An ‘unknown’ fever is killing people in Lakhpat taluka of Kutch district of Gujarat. 12 people including 4 children below 12 years of age have died in the area. Officials gave this information on Sunday. They said that the primary cause of death seems to be pneumonitis. At the same time, some local district panchayat members say that doctors are not able to treat the fever properly. Patients are having difficulty breathing due to fever.
Kutch Collector Amit Arora said that medical services have been increased in view of this fever in the taluka located near the Pakistan border. A total of 22 monitoring teams and doctors have been deployed. Samples are being taken from the residents to accurately investigate the cause of the fever. Health workers are taking the said samples to rule out H1N1, swine flu, Crimean-Congo fever, malaria and dengue.
Kutch Collector Amit Arora said- Prima facie, it seems that the deaths have occurred due to pneumonitis. It does not seem to be due to infection. It does not seem to be an infectious disease either. 22 teams of the health department are working in the affected areas, including teams brought on deputation from two community health centers and quick reaction teams of Rajkot PDU Medical College.
Kutch Zila Panchayat member Meenaba Jadeja, in a letter to Gujarat Congress chief Shaktisinh Gohil, claimed that 12 patients aged between 5 and 50 years have died due to this fever in Bekhada, Sanandro, Morgar and Bharvandh villages of Lakhpat taluka between September 3 and 9. Meanwhile, former Lakhpat Panchayat member Hussain Raima said that the people suffering from fever were first admitted to a private hospital in Vermanagar town of Lakhpat taluka.
The patients were then taken to Dayapar CHC and finally to Bhuj General Hospital. One patient was even sent to Ahmedabad. However, the patient could not recover from the fever and died. Locals say that the patients had fever, cold, cough, pneumonia. They were having difficulty breathing, while another district panchayat member Mamad Jang Jat said that the doctors were not able to provide accurate treatment for the disease, which led to the death of people.
