Viral infection suspected to be culprit behind ‘mystery’ disease in Eluru

Neurologists suspect that the culprit behind the ‘mystery’ disease in Eluru town could be a viral infection. Telangana and AP usually witness a spurt in viral infections related to the brain between September and January every year, said Dr P Ranganadham, senior neurosurgeon at Hyderabad’s Sunshine Hospitals adding that the causative agent behind the Eluru disease could be a virus.It could be viral encephalitis or a mutated strain of the novel coronavirus, as Covid-19 is known to affect any organ in the body.
Dr Ranganadham told TOI that a thorough research study should be conducted with an open mind to pinpoint the causative agent for this sudden ailment. “The patients should be subjected to EEG and MRI scan if nothing suspicious is found in the CT scan of the brain. Samples of blood and cerebral-spinal fluid collected from the patients should be analysed at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) to find out the virus, if any,” he opined.
The neurosurgeon, who was earlier associated with AIIMS and NIMS, ruled out possibility of mass hysteria or an episode of urban legend as patients presented themselves with clinical symptoms. He also ruled out lead poisoning as symptoms related to it are not present in patients in Eluru. He, however, did not rule out role of some pesticide or toxin that could have entered the body through water. He said the symptoms resembled those triggered by a virus hitting the central nervous system. “From experience I suspect it could be a virus and not bacterial infection,” he said.
Dr Rakesh Kakkar, medical superintendent of AIIMS Mangalagiri, too suspected that water contaminated by virus or some toxin could have been the possible trigger. He said more samples have been sent for analysis and the exact cause could be known only after biological and chemical analysis reports are received.