In what comes as a rude shock to the people of Bengaluru, an outbreak of cholera has been reported in the city. The news comes in at a time when the city is already gripped by the fear of novel coronavirus.
As per reports doing the rounds, many patients have tested positive for cholera in the last few days. Cholera is caused by a bacteria called Vibrio cholera and is usually spread through contaminated drinking water or food. It is a notifiable disease which means that it needs to be reported to authorities by law.
Some of the symptoms of cholera are diarrhoea, dehydration, nausea and vomiting. Other signs of the disease include fatigue, sunken eyes, dry mouth, extreme thirst, dry skin, little or no urination, low blood pressure and electrolyte imbalance.
Fact-checking the cholera outbreak
To find out whether the reports of the cholera outbreak in Bengaluru are true or not, we got in touch Dr Samarpita, Chief of Medical Services, Columbia Asia Hospital and she confirmed the unfortunate news.
"As per the information received from other hospitals and going by the lab tests in my hospital, there is an outbreak of Cholera in Kasavanahalli, Sarjapur Road, Koramangala and HSR," she said. One of her colleagues also confirmed that they have seen eight positive cases in the past 10 days.
Advising to take adequate precautions, Dr Samarpita said, "Avoid street food strictly especially liquid items. Also, avoid eating from roadside eateries and small joints."
Besides, Dr Brunda MS, Consultant, Internal Medicine, Aster CMI Hospital, told Banglore Mirror that there are currently three cholera patients in his hospital. Dr Manohar KN, Consultant, Internal Medicine, Manipal Hospital has also reported two cases of cholera.
As per Dr Raghu J, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, Sakra World Hospital, "Many positive cases of cholera have been reported in the city. The authorities had been neglecting it till now. We have received four severe cases where the patients were diagnosed with acute kidney injury. But, they have all recovered."
Hence, it is now confirmed that these are indeed testing times for Bengaluru and the authorities need to take the necessary steps to curb the spread of this water-borne disease.
