Friday 28 September 2012

Hepatitis E


Hepatitis E is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis E virus: a non-enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus. Every year there are 20 million hepatitis E infections, over three million acute cases of hepatitis E, and 70 000 hepatitis E-related deaths. Hepatitis E is usually self-limiting but may develop into fulminant hepatitis (acute liver failure).

 Symptoms

Jaundice
Loss of appetite
An enlarged liver
Abdominal pain and tenderness
Fever and vomiting

There is no available treatment capable of altering the course of acute hepatitis. Prevention is the most effective approach against the disease.
 

18 killed in hepatitis E outbreak in Maharashtra

Eighteen people have been killed in Ichalkaranji city, 300 kms. South of Mumbai, because of outbreak of hepatitis E. The outbreak was caused by contaminated water from the city's Panchganga River. 

An outbreak of hepatitis E has struck the western Indian state of Maharashtra killing at least 18 people and leaving over 4,000 sick, officials said Wednesday.

City authorities suspect the outbreak in the Ichalkaranji city was caused by contaminated water from the city's main Panchganga river. The city has a population of 300,000 and is situated 300 kilometers south of Mumbai.

"Fifteen people were killed in Ichalkaranji while three more were killed in its surrounding areas in the outbreak over the past month," the city's chief health official Sunil Sangewar said. Most deaths occurred in the past fortnight.

"The main reason for the outbreak is leaks from sewage pipes and industrial effluents mixing with the Panchganga, making it highly polluted," he said, adding authorities had taken measures to stop the contamination.

While several hundred patients taken ill with hepatitis have been treated, around 300 patients were under medical care in the city, he said.

Schools, colleges and restaurants in the city have been shut down for eight days in an effort to control the spread of the disease.


 
Water purification is playing the vital role in human’s life. 

For more details on Water Electro chlorination and purification - http://www.pristinewater.in