Diarrhoea claims three more lives in Rourkela; toll reaches 7 in 3 days

Rourkela: The situation in diarrhoea-hit Rourkela remained grim as three more patients affected by the disease succumbed today, taking the toll to seven in just three days.

The deceased patients were identified as Pranab Kishore Swain (50) of the Rourkela Railway Station area, Atul Kisan (70) of Gandhi Road and Mohmmed Aslam (42) of the Rourkela Steel Plant site.

According to reports, Pranab Kishore Swain, a hotel owner, and Aslam died while undergoing treatment at the Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospital in Rourkela today. Atul Kisan passed away at the Rourkela Government Hospital. While 15 patients were discharged from the RGH, 25 more patients were admitted to the Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospital today.

On Friday and Saturday, four people including two elderly women and a woman died due to diarrhoea. The deceased persons were Glassan Samant (38) of Panposh area, Nansi Dubey (75) of Udit Nagar, Phulatoli Goud (23) of Panposh and Ahalya Nayak (70) of Orampada.

In the past six days, 167 diarrhoea patients were admitted to the Rourkela Govt Hospital, of which 61 have been discharged following recovery.

Besides, over 150 patients affected by diarrhoea are under treatment at different hospitals in the city.

The number of patients is likely to increase in upcoming days.

In the wake of the situation, Odisha Government has sent a team of experts to Rourkela to take stock of situation and coordinate with doctors and health officials deployed for the treatment in hospitals. The two-member team will ascertain the reason behind the diarrhoea outbreak in Odisha’s Steel City.

The health department has also directed the Sundargarh Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) to send a rapid response team to Rourkela.