Diarrhea outbreak claims two children in remote Arunachal Pradesh village

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: At least two children died while 17 others were seriously ill due to the recent outbreak of diarrhea in a village near the Indo-Myanmar border in Longding district of Arunachal Pradesh.

Two children at the age-group of 5-7 died due to diarrhea at Konsa village in the district due to an outbreak of the disease reported on June 18 last, a senior medical officer from the district informed. Five-year-old Khunwang Wangsa died on June 15 while Sahwang Wangsa (7) died on June 18, Longding district medical officer (DMO) Dr. Aza Miyu informed.

Another 17 children were also affected while three of them were admitted to district hospital at Longding and currently undergoing treatment, he said. Konsa village is around 50 km from Longding, the district headquarters.

“After receiving the information on June 18, we sent a medical team with adequate medicines and started treatment to control the disease,” Dr. Miyu said adding, possible contamination of drinking water sources in the village might be the reason for the outbreak of the disease.

The disease is generally from bacterial infection in drinking water, he said. Dr. Miyu added that samples of water from the community tank from where the villagers drink water have been collected for examination and the PHE department would soon undertake a chlorination process in the village and its nearby areas.

“The health department is also initiating necessary steps to create awareness on diarrhoea and how to prevent its spread,” the DMO said. Locals, however, allege that although the disease was reported on June 15 with the death of one child, the health department officials reached the village only on June 18, which further aggravated the situation.

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