Over 550 people in Eluru town of Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district have been suffering from convulsions, seizures, dizziness and nausea since 5th December 2020 . The seizures last for 3 to 5 minutes and are followed usually by vomiting or loss of consciousness. Initially, the illness was thought to be related to COVID-19 but studies suggest otherwise.
This mystery illness surfaced in Andhra Pradesh with number of patients suffering severe symptoms. According to Doctors at the Eluru Government Hospital, most victims are being treated and patients are fine within one or two hours and are discharged. People of all age groups, men, women and even small children are among the victims. While on Saturday night at least 90 people were brought to hospitals, the figures drastically rose on Sunday and Monday. Only since Tuesday evening has the number of victims come down.Various teams and agencies have shown their suspicion towards different reasons which might have caused this illness :-
- Public health experts and scientists from various agencies are awaiting detailed reports of analysis of blood and water samples but the primary suspicion is on water contamination by heavy metals. Scientists suspect that pesticide or insecticide has seeped into drinking water sources.
- AIIM’s officials say that the dumping of broken batteries in water sources may also have led to the current situation.
- Andhra Pradesh Health Department officials investigating the mystery illness have observed that excessive use of bleaching powder and chlorine, as part of Covid-19 sanitation measures, may have caused the water contamination that made people take ill.
- Experts from National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad say that there are indications of lead contamination but can confirm this only after detailed test reports.
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi took the responsibility to investigate and found traces of lead and nickel in blood samples of 25 victims out of the 45 samples sent by the state government. Doctors and experts from AIIMS, New Delhi, had said that primary investigations revealed that lead and nickel content appeared to be high in the blood of those who were ill. Also, it was found that there was a significant drop in the level of lead in patients’ bodies after 24 hours of becoming sick.
Various institutions have come together to work on various aspects of the illness. AIIMS, New Delhi is testing blood, water and milk samples for heavy metals, Centre for Cellular and Hyderabad, is testing samples of urine, blood, water, vegetables, fruits and other consumables for traces of heavy metals and pesticides. The Indian Institute of Chemical Technology is testing water and blood samples for traces of pesticides. A two-member WHO team is in Eluru to monitor the situation. During the household survey, water samples taken locally were tested but no traces of lead or pesticides were found.
The West Godavari district administration has deployed 62 medical teams to monitor residents in the town and nearby areas affected by the mystery illness. The medical and relief teams have conducted two rounds of household surveys to check the condition of people, and even on Thursday, the teams were conducting checks on residents to make sure they are safe. Teams of officials have spread out to check all sources of water to find out the source of suspected contamination. Officials were scouring garbage dumps where batteries may be leaking and contaminating groundwater. Teams are also tracing the two canals that bring water to Eluru to check for any source of contamination.
