Hepatitis E sounds alarm

SPECIAL Hepatitis E sounds alarm | Health | bdnews24.com

Waterborne liver diseases have appeared as a major public health concern in the country, where safe drinking water remains a pipe-dream for many, experts warn.

The warning followed the lab confirmation of hepatitis E outbreak in the Kumudini Welfare Trust's Mirzapur complex in Tangail, a neighbourhood of the capital Dhaka.

A number of students residing in dormitories of the Kumudini Medical College and Hospital, Nursing School and Bharateswari Homes were taken ill early June with yellow coloration of eyes and skin.

The Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) swung into action following the illness and their repeated tests confirmed the virus to be hepatitis E on Sunday.

"We also identified water as the source of infection," IEDCR director Prof Mahmudur Rahman told bdnews24.com on Monday.