No cholera outbreak in Karnataka; six sporadic cases reported since January this year, says Health Commissioner

Bengaluru Health Commissioner addresses sporadic Cholera cases, advises precautions, and emphasizes the importance of reporting cases accurately.

Allaying fears of a cholera outbreak in the State, Health Commissioner Randeep D. said that six sporadic confirmed cases of the acute diarrhoeal disease have been from three districts since January this year. 

Addressing presspersons here on Friday, the Commissioner said all the six are sporadic cases and have not been reported in clusters. “While three cases have been reported from BBMP limits, two have been reported from Bengaluru Urban and one from Ramanagar. Five of the six have been reported in March alone,” he said.

Asserting that the numbers are almost the same compared to the corresponding period in 2023, Mr. Randeep said a total of 108 confirmed cholera cases had been reported in the State in 2023. While, 42 cases had been reported in 2022, 20 in 2021, and 40 in 2020. “There has been no cluster outbreak in the State after the 15 cases reported in Hoskote in December 2023. We have directed health officials to track and intensify surveillance measures if more than one case is reported anywhere in the State,” he said.

Calling upon people not to panic, the Commissioner said cholera is most likely to occur and spread in places with unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene. Advising precautions, he said people should wash fruits and vegetables with clean water before eating or cooking, avoid raw vegetables and fruits that cannot be peeled, avoid consumption of cut fruits that are sold uncovered, and consume food that has been thoroughly cooked and covered.

Reiterating that private hospitals should mandatorily notify the Health Department of any communicable and notifiable diseases detected in their facilities, the Commissioner said every confirmed case should be entered on the Integrated Health Information Portal (IHIP). “We have sought an explanation from private hospitals who are directly revealing information to the media without entering it on the portal. One particular hospital has said there is a 50% rise in Cholera but when checked they have not entered a single case on the portal,” the Commissioner said.

Categorically denying reports that two heat stroke deaths had been reported, one each in Kalaburagi and Bagalkot, Mr. Randeep said both the deaths had occurred due to cardiac complications. “As many as 521 cases of heat-related illness have been reported. But the two deaths are due to Cardiac Tamponade and Myocardial Infarction respectively,” he said.