‘Cholera not sole factor behind diarrhoea outbreak’
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KATHAMNDU, MAR 16 - Research conducted by Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) and Centre for Molecular Dynamics Nepal (CMDN) has shown that besides cholera, other nine water-borne diseases were responsible for death of more than 300 people in the western and far western region last year.
Earlier, the Ministry of Health and World Health Organisation (WHO), after conducting joint lab tests, had attributed cholera as the sole reason behind the deaths.
“The outbreak was not due to cholera only. We have found nine other dangerous pathogens and waterborne bacterial strains, which could have led to the deaths,” said CMDN Country Director Dr. Sameer M. Dixit,
After the diarrheoa outbreak last year, even the World Food Programme (WFP) had come under scanner for its alleged role in distributing rotten food materials. NHRC and CMDN officials have now confirmed that their findings have shown no sign food-borne diseases.
According to Dr. Dixit, along with the bacteria Vibrio cholerae and E. coli there were other dangerous pathogens like aeromonas, clostridum, salmonella, shigella, campylobacter and yersinaia enterocolitica were found during the stool test of patients who suffered from the diarrhoeal.
NHRC and CMDN had collected stool samples from some 3080 diarrhoea patients from Achham, Baitadi and Doti between April and September last year. Of them, some 33 samples were tested in Molecular Technology Lab set up at CMDN.
“The findings show waterborne diseases were the main reasons behind the outbreak. Continuous intervention across the country is a must and it should be throughout the year since diarrhoea is one of the diseases claiming a number of lives in the country,” said Dr. Chop Lal Bhusal, Executive Chairperson of NHRC. “The government must prioritise research and design programmes.”
Posted on: 2010-03-16 12:50
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