By Engy Adham
Sixty-two patients who have been suffering from fever and nausea have not received a medical explanation for their cases at Assiut Fevers Hospital. Tests run by the Ministry of Health and Population showed that drinking water in the Dirout area in Assiut meets the safety standards.
According to Khaled Megahed, spokesperson at the Ministry of Health, these tests have been conducted to pinpoint if there is a problem with the water supply in villages of Dirout that is causing the fever outbreak.
Medical lab technicians and experts at Ministry of Health laboratories in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing have tested water samples on 8 October to evaluate water sanitation and hygiene, after 62 patients were recorded as suffering from fever. Forty patients were released from hospital and there were no reported deaths.
Megahed told Daily News Egypt: “We collected water samples to test their safety and they were proven to be safe. We are still waiting for more results to determine the reason why 62 patients have been suffering from fever this past month.”
Mohamed Kandil, a doctor at Assiut Fevers Hospital, told Daily News Egypt that the hospital is not equipped with enough beds to receive so many patients. Kandil added: “Assiut Fevers Hospital houses around 320 beds in total, which is enough at the moment for the cases from Dirout villages. But whenever we receive a bigger number of patients, we communicate with the ministry of health to secure more beds.”
The health ministry stated that they are still expecting more test results to better analyse the cases currently still in the hospital.
According to the ministry, its preventive team visited 302 houses in all three villages and collected samples from 2,662 persons to assess the sanitation.
