WHO team camps in Banaskantha as suspected diphtheria cases rise

Palanpur: A team from the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been camping in Banakantha district since past couple of days after at least 10 suspected deaths due to diphtheria were recorded in the district this month.

According to chief district health officer Manish Fancy, four suspected diphtheria patients are in critical condition and under treatment at civil hospital in Ahmedabad. Also, at least 35 children are under observation in seven talukas of Banaskantha district.

“Two suspected diphtheria patients, both children in age group of 6-10 years, died on Wednesday— one in Ahmedabad civil hospital and another in Palanpur civil hospital,” Fancy told TOI.

“A team of WHO has been camping in the district and over 200 teams for state health department are conducting door-to-door survey in affected talukas,” added Fancy.

“We are awaiting reports from National Institute of Virology (NIC) Pune to ascertain the cause of deaths of the suspected diphtheria cases,” said Fancy adding that they were also getting reports from Kerala where the diphtheria outbreak in 2016-17 had claimed several lives.

He said that they have issued advisory in wake of Diwali festival when children eat a lot of sweets, and setting in of winter.

“We have distributed pamphlets and are doing personnel meetings with village sarpanchas and other organizations to check the further spread of the disease,” Fancy added.