M A I N   N E W S

Fever toll rises to 12, 11 more affected
Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 19
Preliminary investigations by the four-member team of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) indicate that the mysterious fever which has claimed 12 lives so far has been caused by a rickettsial disease. However, the team has not ruled out the possibility of enteric fever altogether. Meanwhile, one more patient, Rakesh Kumar of Chail, has died and 11 new patients have been admitted to hospital during the past 24 hours.

The team which held discussions with doctors of the IGMC Hospital who have been treating the patients agreed with their diagnosis that, in all probability, it was a rickettsial disease. However, it maintained that since the cases were sporadic and coming from different areas of the state, the possibility of a few patients being inflicted with enteric fever or both diseases might be there.

Keeping this possibility in view the team took bone-marrow samples of two suspected patients of enteric fever. Two members of the team — Dr Mahadev a virologist from Pune, and Dr Avdesh Kumar, an epidemiologist from the NICD — left for Arki and Solan, from where a number of cases have been reported, in the morning. Their aim is to have an idea of the environmental conditions.

Dr S. Chug, a senior specialist in internal medicine, and Dr Arvind Rai, joint director of the NICD, stayed back to hold discussions with the IGMC doctors. They left in the afternoon. Dr Harbans Kapoor, Principal of the IGMC, said that the team was satisfied with the treatment being given to the patients.

Dr Arvind Rai said that the NICD would go for the DNA finger printing of the disease-causing organism to identify the strain. A rickettsial disease is not dreaded, but rare. According to Dr L.S. Pal, head of the Medicine Department, it has not been reported officially in the state. However, a doctor did come across such cases in Mandi about three decades ago. The patients were responding to the treatment if brought to hospital in the early stages of the disease. Only those who were in advanced stage of the disease had died.