The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Viral diseases on rise in Adilabad

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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Viral diseases on rise in Adilabad

S. Harpal Singh

Locals fear it to be outcome of biological weapons test

PHOTO: G. RAJESHWARA CHARY

In need of medicare: Adverse weather conditions lead to spread of viral fevers in Adilabad district.

ADILABAD: The uncommon adverse weather and health conditions could be the result of experimentation of weapons of germ warfare.

This line of thought rules coffee house debates in Adilabad as people reel under the ill-effects of excessive rainfall and seasonal diseases.

Such a contention had first been put forward by locals in the 2006 epidemic season when the entire population seemed to have been struck by the debilitating chikungunya.

Locals had then argued that the inexplicable phenomenon could have been an outcome of some biological weapons test carried out by forces inimical to the country.

This time, the unusually prolonged period of rainy days and the spread of viral diseases have generated the seemingly ridiculous idea of the problems being man made.

Anxious

The anxiety of people is understandable as they stand to lose heavily both economically and health wise if the conditions continue to prevail.

“Arrival of new and unknown energy sapping diseases over the last few years has made us suspicious,” says Uday Kumar Jaiswal, a general merchant from Gandhi Chowk, who supports the theory of man made disasters. “We know through newspapers that the effect of biological warfare could be similar though the scale is much lesser in Adilabad,” he tries to justify the contention of the group of his friends.

The medical fraternity here does not lend credence to coffee house debates on health matters. Nevertheless, most of the professionals are seized of the mysterious ways in which diseases are getting manifest.

Cause of concern

“Occurrence of unknown allergies is a cause of botheration to doctors here. I have also observed a typically rapid dehydration in a large number of viral diarrhoea patients who fail to respond to routine drugs too,” points out Dr. M. Dattu, the Adilabad district president of Indian Medical Association, about the latest health trends.

The debate on adverse weather hinges around the pattern of rainfall and day temperatures during the monsoon season. Though Adilabad has been one of the wettest places in the State, people do not remember the spells to be stretching so long.

“There used to be at least one week-long spell of rain every season in the past. This is perhaps the first time a spell is continuing beyond 40 days,” Mr. Jaiswal points out.

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