Five of the 24 patients who were operated upon for cataract by the eye specialists of Sarojini Devi Government Eye Hospital on August 14 have developed eye infection and are in observation at the hospital. While 19 patients who underwent surgeries have recovered well, five patients complained of severe itching on Monday, August 16.
Of the five patients, two are from Mahabubnagar and one patient each is from Warangal, Medak and Ranga Reddy districts. According to hospital authorities, the condition of one patient Ramulu has not improved much while the other four female patients are responding to the treatment. The hospital authorities, however, maintained that it will take few more days to ascertain the full impact of the treatment on the infections.
Meanwhile, Joint Director of National Programme for Blindness Control (NPCB), Dr. B. Motilal has asked the hospital authorities to send a detailed report on the issue. “It's premature to pinpoint the exact cause of infection. I have asked for a report and hopefully in a day or two we could find the exact cause behind it,” he said.
The hospital authorities have informed that already an internal inquiry to find the source of infection has been conducted by experts. “We have collected the samples of gloves, masks and other medical equipment used on the day of the surgery to ascertain the source of infection. But we have found no contaminating agents. The doctors who performed the surgery are senior most in their respective fields. Sometimes, it's very difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for such infections. We are providing our best facilities to the patients,” Superintendent of Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital, Dr. Vidya Vati said.
