15 new cases but worst is over, say city doctors

At Safdarjung Hospital, while around fifty patients were diagnosed for dropsy, only one was admitted. At Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital, 19 persons were admitted on Sunday, two of them in the paediatric wards. Yet even at DDU doctors felt the numbers were definitely on the decline as compared to earlier figures.

Some of the fresh cases in these hospitals have left the patients puzzled as they had stopped intake of mustard oil or had never used mustard oil. The only patient admitted in Safdarjung, Sonam, 5, from Jaitpur in Badarpur who had swelling for the past two days with fever for the past two weeks had always had food cooked in Rath.

Kalpana, 15, and her two brothers Niranjan, 13, and Gyan Ranjan, 16 all from Maaharani Bagh, had swelling in their feet since Saturday evening and had stopped taking mustard oil ten days ago and were subsequently using Rath. They did not have a clue as to why they had still contracted the disease.

The doctors at Safdarjung who were not aware of their use of vanaspati merely advised them to stop use of mustard oil. Similar is the case of Neha, 2, from Dakshinpuri who was admitted in ward 21. She had swollen eyes and feet. Her family which had been using mustard oil earlier has long since switched over to a vanaspati brand.

Shakuntala, who was admitted to DDU on Sunday had always used Rath. She had not only swollen legs but also skin manifestations like red sores on her palms. Dr Sujit of Safdarjung said the canteen mess from which he and other doctors there took food always used Rath. It has not affected any of them so far though the cases showed how bad the quality control machinery of the government has been.

According to Sunil M. Raheja, chief medical officer at DDU, the only way out of the epidemic was proper, foolproof checking and packing of all oil supplied in the market. “There should be a batch number for every packet of oil or ghee as in medicines. Loose sale should be banned and small pouches of 100 or 50 ml should be there for the low income groups.

To empower the public further against the epidemic, they should carry out nitric acid tests on any oil they use. Just add a few drops of nitric acid to 5 to 10 ml of oil and if it turns greyish golden then it is contaminated. The government should make available nitric acid for the tests,” he suggested.