Hyderabad, June 3 (IANS) Suspected food poisoning at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) Erragadda in Hyderabad has claimed the life of a patient and left 70 others affected, officials said on Tuesday.

The condition of the two other patients, who are undergoing treatment at Osmania General Hospital, is stated to be critical.

According to doctors, the condition of 68 others is stable.

Hyderabad District Collector Anudeep Durishetty and Director of Medical Education (DME) A. Narendra Kumar visited IMH on Tuesday evening.

Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha has taken a serious note of the incident, directing officials to conduct an inquiry into suspected food poisoning.

The mentally ill patients at the four-decade-old facility started complaining of vomiting and diarrhoea since Monday morning. A patient, identified as Kiran (30), died on Monday. According to officials, no new cases were reported after 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

A team of doctors from Osmania General Hospital is stationed at IMH. A 24-hour medical team has been deployed to closely monitor patient vitals. Two ambulances were also on standby to shift the patients in case of any deterioration.

The officials have not yet reached the conclusion that it was a case of food poisoning. Since all the food was consumed by the time patients started showing symptoms, authorities collected stool and vomit samples and sent them to the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) for analysis.

Officials also set more than a dozen water samples for analysis as they suspect that patients were affected by contaminated water. Water samples were collected from various points in the facility. Authorities expect clarity about the cause of the illness on Wednesday.

Following the direction of the Health Minister, senior officials visited the hospital and launched an investigation.

There have been allegations of patients at IMH facing problems of shelter, security, unhygienic surroundings and poor-quality food.

–IANS

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