Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Gampola fighting Hepatitis A
By Sandun A. Jayasekera and Suranga Rajanayake
The Hepatitis A viral infection, commonly known as yellow fever, is on the rise in the Gampola Urban Council area.
According to Gampola Hospital Director Dr. Ibrahim Lebbe, by noon yesterday the number of Hepatitis patients admitted to the Gampola Base Hospital had risen to 263 in comparison to 200 on Friday.
?The main reason for the spread of disease is contaminated water. The entire area under the Urban Council has been affected due to unsafe water being supplied by the Water Board. We have advised its authorities to increase the chlorination to ?Super Chlorination Level? to ensure the purity of drinking water,? Dr. Lebbe said.
He added that there was a decrease in admissions of new patients later yesterday and added that the most affected were school children.
?It is a relief that no patient has died from the disease so far. People must necessarily drink boiled water at all times?, warned Dr. Lebbe.
A much concerned political authority of the area, Minister D.M. Jayaratna said, ?People living in estates drink unsafe pipe-borne water which tends to be contaminated. Those in and around Gampola, Pussellawa, Tundeniya and Tholuwa do not have access to safe drinking water.?
Meanwhile, Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told the Daily Mirror last morning that all steps necessary to contain the disease and to prevent it from growing into epidemic proportions have been taken by his Ministry.
?A team of healthcare officials including epidemiologists, doctors, micro-biologists and Public Health Inspectors have already been sent to the Gampola Base Hospital with necessary drugs and equipment. They are expected to contain the spread with necessary advice for the people in the area,? he said.
Hepatitis A virus can be transmitted through ingestion or contact with contaminated water and causes serious liver disease. Current assays to detect Hepatitis A virus are serum based.
http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/05/21/front/5.asp
By Sandun A. Jayasekera and Suranga Rajanayake
The Hepatitis A viral infection, commonly known as yellow fever, is on the rise in the Gampola Urban Council area.
According to Gampola Hospital Director Dr. Ibrahim Lebbe, by noon yesterday the number of Hepatitis patients admitted to the Gampola Base Hospital had risen to 263 in comparison to 200 on Friday.
?The main reason for the spread of disease is contaminated water. The entire area under the Urban Council has been affected due to unsafe water being supplied by the Water Board. We have advised its authorities to increase the chlorination to ?Super Chlorination Level? to ensure the purity of drinking water,? Dr. Lebbe said.
He added that there was a decrease in admissions of new patients later yesterday and added that the most affected were school children.
?It is a relief that no patient has died from the disease so far. People must necessarily drink boiled water at all times?, warned Dr. Lebbe.
A much concerned political authority of the area, Minister D.M. Jayaratna said, ?People living in estates drink unsafe pipe-borne water which tends to be contaminated. Those in and around Gampola, Pussellawa, Tundeniya and Tholuwa do not have access to safe drinking water.?
Meanwhile, Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told the Daily Mirror last morning that all steps necessary to contain the disease and to prevent it from growing into epidemic proportions have been taken by his Ministry.
?A team of healthcare officials including epidemiologists, doctors, micro-biologists and Public Health Inspectors have already been sent to the Gampola Base Hospital with necessary drugs and equipment. They are expected to contain the spread with necessary advice for the people in the area,? he said.
Hepatitis A virus can be transmitted through ingestion or contact with contaminated water and causes serious liver disease. Current assays to detect Hepatitis A virus are serum based.
http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/05/21/front/5.asp