AP used drug which cholera germ can fight off

AP used drug which cholera germ can fight off

May 11: The National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases on Monday confirmed what the city had feared: That the outbreak of disease in some areas is cholera. NICED said the cholera outbreak was due to water contaminated with sewage. NICED said the deaths of 12 persons could have been caused by cholera, but it could not be confirmed as samples were not collected from the victims. “Cholera is endemic to Hyderabad as cases are reported regularly. So there is a possibility of epidemic,” said the he NICED deputy director (epidemiology), Dr Dipika Sur. “As the deaths are reported due to severe dehydration we can say the deaths may be possibly due to cholera.” Dr Sur said the causative organism was Vibrio cholera 01 ogawa (El Tor) strain. Interestingly NICED was not told by state health authorities about the four deaths that occurred on Saturday and Sunday. “We don’t know about these deaths,” Dr Sur said. Meanwhile, it turned out that the government was distributing tetracycline to fight cholera. Though it is the antibiotic of choice to fight the disease, at least six strains of the cholera germ are known to have developed resistance to the drug. Tetracycline was distributed even on Sunday, following which NICED advised the government to shift to norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin. The government has issued an emergency circular to all hospitals and officials asking them to use these two antibiotics. The joint director (epidemics), Dr Madhu Sudana Rao, said, “Apart from resistance of tetracycline, it can’t be used given to children as it is in capsule form and can’t be broken.” The Tetracycline oral solution is banned because it affects teeth, said the Drug Control Administration assistant director (vigilance), Mr Raja Bhanu. NICED has made some major recommendations: * Use Norfloxicin and Ciprflaxicin. * Take up largescale chlorination of water. * Begin cholera awareness campaign. * Replace old pipelines. The health principal secretary, Mr L.V. Subramaniam, said NICED had confirmed that 30 samples, including 12 cases at Fever Hospital and 14 at Gandhi Hospital, had tested positive for cholera. All the patients with cholera were discharged. The government will try to track them down and collect more samples. Cholera-positive patients still in hospital would be provided a separate ward to prevent its spread of disease, health officials said. The government has begun distributing syrup enriched with zinc to distribute to children, on the advice of NICED. Information pamphlets are being distributed to households in the affected area through self help groups and health workers.