Warning cell at Epicentre of Epidemic opened

BHUBANESWAR: The onset of monsoon has the State Government along with the Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) set up a cholera warning cell at Rayagada, the epicentre of the past outbreaks. The cell at the CDMO office will begin functioning this week. The RMRC has put in place a team which will be deployed there. Testing equipment and chemicals for the laboratory will be sent along with the team.Water and rectal swab samples collected from the peripheral centres will be sent to the lab every day for test. Once diarrhoea and cholera cases are identified, the course of action will be chalked out.“Through the cell, we will be able to provide vital information to the Health Department about outbreak of diarrhoea, its gravity and any possible spread of cholera. This in turn will help them form focused prevention and containment strategies for each affected and vulnerable area,” RMRC Director SK Kar said.Till last year, the rectal and water samples collected from the district were sent to RMRC here for testing which consumed time. With the field cell at Rayagada, the tests could be done instantly and control and prevention measures put in place.This will also help RMRC formulate its research strategies to understand the pattern of the cholera organism for which a state-of-the-art Epidemic Research Centre and Laboratory has been planned at Rayagada. Kar said, protocol for the state-of-the-art facility is being prepared.Cholera and gastro diseases have killed scores of people in the region.  In September last year, cholera claimed over 50 lives in Rayagada, while 2007 had seen the biggest outbreak which consumed 500 lives. Between 2002 and 2005, over 1,000 persons died of the diseases in Rayagada and the adjoining districts.Meanwhile, in a related development, the RMRC, an arm of ICMR, has completed the field test of Shanchrol, the cholera vaccine in Satyabadi block of Puri. Against a target of 35,000, at least 33,000 people have been administered the vaccine. “We are in the process of carrying out the case control study which will give us  accurate information on the level of protection achieved individually and at community level,” Kar said.Once  reports are available about the test vaccination, the Government could take a call on replicating it in the affected zones.

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