Investigation of Diarrhoea Outbreak in a Remote Village of Southern Karnataka
Journal Title: National Journal of Research in Community Medicine - Year 2018, Vol 7, Issue 3
Abstract
Diarrhoea occurs world-wide and causes 4% of all deaths and 5% of health loss to disability. A total of 1714 outbreaks have been reported in 2017 in India of which acute diarrhoeal diseases is major cause. One of the most important causes for diarrhea is due to water contamination with human and animal feces. The main purpose of an outbreak investigation is to control the outbreak, limit its spread to other areas and assess the preventive strategies that could be adopted to reduce or eliminate the risk of such outbreak in future. Methodology: 18 members in the village of a V. Guttahalli were admitted to the community health centre at Mulbagal in Kolar, in November 2010 with vomiting, diarrhoea and severe dehydration. A rapid household survey in the affected village was carried out for case finding and management. Environmental survey was carried out. Drinking water samples were collected and analyzed. Results: Thirty people in the rapidly surveyed households had developed acute diarrhoea in the past 7 days. The affected households were consuming water from common sources. The water supply distribution pipes were tampered near the collection points. Generally sanitation of the community was very poor with open defecation all around and animal dung was present near the water collection points. Cholera bacilli was not identified from stool samples and water collected from water tanks. The outbreak declined after ensuring that people collected water from a single point and temporarily stopping the distribution of water through the multiple water taps in the community. One out of the four water samples from different collection points was positive for E-coli.Conclusions: Water contamination through the damaged distribution pipes was identified as the cause of acute diarrhoea outbreak at V. Guttahalli. It is important for the local governance to supervise and maintain water supply system. The community should be educated about the importance of hygiene and sanitation of water distribution system and the water collection points.
Authors and Affiliations
Naresh Kumar S J, Prasanna Kamath B T, Muninarayana. C
Keywords
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- EP ID EP525818
- DOI 10.26727/NJRCM.2018.7.3.233-236
- Views 90
- Downloads 0
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