Two test positive for cholera after 47 students hospitalised in Bengaluru

The Cholera infections in Bengaluru are slowly taking a toll as two students from Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) tested positive on Saturday. A total of 47 students from the BMCRI’s girls’ hostel developed similar symptoms, and they all were rushed to the Victoria Hospital.
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According to reports, the students suffered from loose stools and dehydration and were also diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis. Speaking to the news agency PTI, the management of BMCRI said, “Forty-seven students suffering from acute gastroenteritis were admitted to Victoria Hospital from the girl’s hostel of BMCRI with a history of loose stools and weakness. The stool samples of all the patients were sent for culture and sensitivity tests. Two patients have tested positive for cholera by hanging drop method, and culture yields vibrio Cholera (serotype ogawa). One patient tested positive by hanging method, and culture report is awaited,”
Amid questions over the quality of water supplied to the hostel, the management clarified that the infection was not through the water. “The water samples from the girls’ hostel tested negative for Cholera. The patients are currently being treated with antibiotics and IV fluids.”
On Friday, the Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Department said that six confirmed cases of cholera had been reported in the state so far this year, of which five were reported in March. Earlier, a man from a boys’ PG in Bengaluru’s Malleshwaram tested positive for cholera.
However, the Karnataka Health Department stressed that there is no cholera outbreak in the state as the cases are just sporadic at this point in time.