Health deptt reaches out to Gastroenteritis-hit villages

SRINAGAR: A team of health officials reached Trail village in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Sunday following the outbreak of Gastroenteritis.
First, the team, comprising Dr. Samina Gul, SSO, IDSP, Dr. Afshan Abdullah, State Epidemiologist, IDSP, and the District Rapid Response Team, led by Dr. M Y Zagoo, CMO Anantnag,and Block Medical officer caller Dr. Zahoor, conducted a thorough investigation.
Later, on the directives of the Secretary of Health and Medical Education, Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah (IAS), Director of Health Services Kashmir, Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad Rather, visited the gastroenteritis-affected villages of Health Block Sallar to assess the situation.
Accompanied by Chief Medical Officer Anantnag and BMO Sallar, Dr. Rather expressed satisfaction with the overall management of the outbreak.
Pertinently, the Health Department Kashmir has been engaged in managing the outbreak since the last two days, with 180 people presenting with symptoms of gastroenteritis, out of which 121 needed admissions for a short stay. Fortunately, 117 have been discharged, and only 04 remain admit at present, reads the statement issued by the office of the Directorate Health Service Kashmir.
Extensive IEC activities have been undertaken, and people have been made aware of SoPs through regular miking and door-to-door campaigns in the affected villages. Chlorination of water sources has been done, and water samples have been collected to investigate the cause of the outbreak, it read.
A spokesperson of the Health Department giving further details said that nearly 400 households had been reached out through door-to-door campaigns of the Health Department, and more than 2000 units of ORS were distributed among them.
Dr. Rather appreciated the medical staff for their outstanding efforts in controlling the situation and appealed to the public to follow the SoPs conveyed by health teams. He emphasized the importance of using only boiled water strictly to prevent further cases.
It is worth mentioning that the Secretary of Health and Medical Education, Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, is personally monitoring the situation and is in constant touch with the health administration regarding the outbreak.
It is pertinent to mention here over one hundred people from Srigufwara area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district were hospitalized after the outbreak of diarrhea in Trail village. A large population including elderly people in Trail village of Srigufwara suffered loose motions and vomiting.

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