Tags:
Journalism of Courage
It has been almost two years since the publication of a preliminary study on the possibility of a wild weed causing “encephalitis deaths” in Saharanpur and adjoining areas. Now, its principal investigator Dr Vipin M Vashishtha, a pediatrician in Bijnore, is all set to take his study to the next step.
He now plans to find out the cause of toxicity of the weed in collaboration with the scientists of the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), Lucknow.
Dr Mukul Das, Head of Food Toxicology Laboratory at IITR, said they were planning to visit the affected areas and assess the situation “before finalising” their report.
Even the Central government has called a meeting of experts on October 8 in New Delhi to discuss the issue. As many as 16 experts of various institutes like National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Indian Academy of
Pediatrics and the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad will be there. Vashishta has also been invited.
The weed, Cassia Occidentalis, is locally called Pamad or Kasondi. Consumption of its seeds leads to encephalitis-like symptoms. Often unsuspecting children eat the seeds and die.
Vashishta said his study was based on clinical findings, “wherein I had questioned children and their parents in Saharanpur and connected their illness with eating of this weed named.” As for the toxicity of the weed, he had some references of some earlier studies that were done on animals. His next study is going to focus on the toxicity caused by the seeds in humans. “I am collaborating with IITR because they are the experts and rightly equipped to take up the toxicity study,” he said.
Vashishta said more places, like Moradabad in UP and Roorkee in Uttarakhand, have reported cases of illness caused by the weed.
The period from September to December is when the weeds bear fruit.
“We already had one case in Bijnore where the child had symptoms of fever, vomiting and then he became mentally unstable and finally succumbed to the disease within two days after eating the weed,” said Vashishtha.
