City registers 15 jaundice cases in 10 days from Kalali

VADODARA: A surge in cases of jaundice in the city's Kalali area has spurred the health department of Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) into action. As many as 15 cases of jaundice were reported from Chanakyanagari near Kalali over the last 10 days even as cases were also reported from Kalali and Atladara villages.
The patients are being treated at different hospitals across the city.VMC officials said the situation is not critical and does not show signs of an epidemic. "The cases seem to be more concentrated in Atladara-Kalali stretch. We have collected 200 water samples from the area and have not found any form of contamination that could cause jaundice. We are keeping a close watch but as of now the situation is under control," said VMC health officer Dr Devesh Patel.
Doctors at GMERS Hospital at Gotri, where some of the residents of the area are being treated, also believe that the city is not witnessing a jaundice epidemic. "We have received cases of jaundice over the last few days but they have been irregular. The number of patients during an epidemic is much larger and in a shorter time frame," said Dr Varsha Godbole, a doctor from general medicine department of the hospital at Gotri.
VMC health officials suspect that these cases might be related to the floods in Vishwamitri river that affected the city during the first week of September. "The incubation period of jaundice infection can range anywhere between six weeks and six months. This particular region was one of the worst-hit areas in the city during the floods. It is possible that the residents drank contaminated water during that time and the cases are surfacing now," Patel added.
The residents of Chanakya Nagari, however, claim that water contamination is a long-standing problem in the area. "The drainage pipes are placed very close to the overhead tank which supplies drinking water to the houses. There has been a leakage in the drainage pipe since long and water from it trickles down into the tank. We have made representations but the problem is yet to be solved," said Chanakyanagari resident Suresh Thakor.