& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Pneumonia dogs kids at flood shelters

6,000 cases of illness reported in 10 days

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Pneumonia, an infection of the respiratory tract, has turned into a major cause of illness mostly among infants with nearly six thousand cases reported in the last 10 days in flood shelters across the country.
Doctors treating the infants in medical camps described the outbreak of the disease as alarming.
In last one week, 35 infants died of pneumonia. Yesterday alone saw as many as six children die of the disease caused by a variety of microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Usually the disease is character-
ised by cough and laboured breathing.
In last 10 days, people suffering from pneumonia numbered 5744. In different flood shelters 1,168 infants contracted the disease yesterday.
"It is the leading cause of illness after diarrhoea in the flood shelters with children under five years of age increasingly getting sick," said a physician in a medical camp in Khilgaon.
He said, "Every day we are receiving up to 15 infants seriously sick with the respiratory infection. Fluctuations in temperature in over-crowded flood shelters seem to be the main reasons for the sickness."
Our correspondents from districts also reported hundreds of infants in the flood shelters falling sick every day. Many of them are said to have no access to medicines yet.
"Pneumonia situation in some flood shelters is very grave as children go untreated for shortage of necessary medicines," said a doctor requesting not to be named.
She said, "We have enough oral saline and drugs to treat diarrhoea and other diseases but don't have enough antibiotic drugs to treat children infected with pneumonia."
Meanwhile, in the flood affected areas, diarrhoea outbreak continued to spread. Yesterday, according to the health directorate, one more died of diarrhoea while 9013 more were affected taking the tally to 1,28,091 since July 12.
The health directorate also said that 2,640 people fell ill with dysentery yesterday. So far people affected by the disease number 12,103.
In the meantime, 52 more people were reported to have contracted dengue, that claimed lives of five since last June. A total of 1,789 people had been treated for dengue in various city hospitals in the city, the health directorate sources said.