THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Expert investigations have revealed that the sudden outbreak of hepatitis in several parts of the state is owing to the contamination of groundwater as well as cheap spurious liquor available in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, which is being smuggled in to the state from border districts. The villages on the Ernakulam-Idukki border, especially the hilly areas of Kothamangalam, Paingottur, Kuttampuzha and Muvattupuzha, and certain areas of Palakkad witnessed a sudden bout of Hepatitis A cases recently, soon after the state was lashed by heavy rain.Dr Sairu Philip, associate professor of Alappuzha Medical College, who was part of the investigation team that looked into the Hepatitis-affected areas of Paingottur, said that most of these affected homes had no sanitary latrines or septic tanks. “The wells from which they source potable water are generally open and unprotected. With heavy rain, like the one experienced recently, well-water gets contaminated with faecal matter. There is an urgent need to provide proper sanitation to the marginalised people living in the area,’’ she said. While there are several schemes under the panchayat to provide sanitation facilities, it cannot be translated into reality as most of the poverty-stricken people living in the area have no title deeds to the land they own.“This would naturally bring in audit objections from the panchayat. But even then, we need to think of a higher intervention, may be even a policy change for the larger good of the people,’’ said an investigator.Dr Hazina, Deputy DMO of Ernakulam, said that an inter-sectoral meeting, with participation of the Water Authority, District Panchayat president, health standing committee chairman, representatives from Kudumbashree and ASHA members would chart out a massive and detailed future action plan. An immediate solution is to superchlorinate all the wells of the area, she added. Dr Pradeep Kumar of the Disease Monitoring Cell said that not just water, but liquor also was to be blamed for the scenario. He said that while the number of people affected with Hepatitis was not alarming, it would be better to be cautious and focus on prevention. “It was reported that the people who drank liquor from Tamil Nadu first got affected with the disease. It would do well for the people to say no to spurious drinks, especially during the festive season,’’ he said.The NICD unit at Cherthala confirmed spurious liquor had been found to be the cause of hepatitis outbreaks in previous years too. ‘’They bring the liquor from Tamil Nadu and mix it with water from whatever source available, even with contaminated water from open wells. People have to be cautious,’’ said Dr Rajendran.
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