Hepatitis-B killed three more people in Modasa on Monday, a day on which the Gujarat government vaccinated 50,000 residents of the taluka in 10 hours, in what could be one of India’s largest medical mop-ups. The toll from the outbreak has now touched 56, although officials assert that the figure is 45. Two of Monday’s casualties are women, identified Kapila Patel (30) and Harshida Rathod (21).

The mass-vaccination drive is being carried out in the Modasa taluka and surrounding villages of the Sabarkantha district by 225 teams of health officials and NGO volunteers.

The state minister of health, Jaynarayan Vyas, had indicated that the vaccination programme will eventually cover 3 lakh people in and around the Modasa taluka.

He denied that the government had been slow in responding to the crisis. “We called in teams from the Centre as soon as we learnt of the outbreak,” he said. “The director-general and the deputy director-general of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Delhi, have also arrived. We are doing the best we can.”

As for vaccinations, an organising committee headed by the district collector, Ranjit Kumar, has deployed some 3,000 trained government employees, set up 60 vaccination booths, and created 100 teams of doctors. Twelve mobile dispensaries have been pressed into service as well.

The superintendent of the Modasa general hospital, DM Dave, said that there had been a fall in the number of suspected hepatitis-B cases being admitted to the hospital. “There are 22 cases in the Modasa general hospital, but only one patient can be said to be in a critical condition. Other patients are fine,” said Dave.(Niyati Rana/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication)