Adenovirus cause of deaths in South, no epidemic

Dealing specifically with the current viral disease in the south, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Anil Dissanayake said that the cause has been identified as the adenovirus and assured that “we have not seen it causing an epidemic”.

Five deaths have been reported from the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital but several others have been treated and have gone back home, he said, explaining that in this situation it is the hospital which is the main focal point and not the community.

He pointed out that the Epidemiology Unit has played its role, with experts from Colombo such as a Specialist in Community Medicine, Dr. Samitha Ginige, going down there on Monday and the focal point for this subject and also a Specialist in Community Medicine, Dr. Tharanga Navodini whose subject this is, visiting Karapitiya on Thursday.

“When it is not a simple respiratory disease, people get admitted to hospital and get specialist care and are treated on clinical symptoms assisted by investigations. We have virologists and microbiologists in teaching hospi- tals and other specialist centres who are capable of isolating organisms and finding out what is causing an outbreak. If there is anything ‘unusual’ clinicians would get more detailed tests done, sometimes getting reports from the Medical Research Institute (MRI),” said Dr. Dissanayake.

When asked why he as the Chief Epidemiologist had not gone to Karapitiya himself, Dr. Dissanayake said that even if he went he would be blamed by some for doing so, as they are alleging that he is “a non-technical person”.

However, on Friday, there was a meeting in Colombo of stakeholders from across the country, including the Provincial and Regional Directors of Health and hospital directors, he said.

Warning that as the country faces heavy rains there could be a spate of communicable diseases, a former Chief Epidemiologist, Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe asked whether we are ready for them. Has the Epidemiology Unit taken the lead role in bracing for such disease outbreaks?

He detailed the work of the Epidemiology Unit whenever there is a disease outbreak – basic investigations need to be carried out promptly to identify whether it is a regularly circulating virus or something new. This is carried out through surveillance and then testing at the MRI or at private laboratories with the Epidemiology Unit liaising heavily.

Thereafter, treatment protocols would be issued to hospitals and doctors by the Epidemiology Unit which would remain in constant touch with the Regional Epidemiologists. There should be strong awareness campaigns on what precautions should be taken by the people to prevent catching an infection and also what they should do if they do catch an infection. This should be done with the help of the Health Education Bureau and the media, said Dr. Abeysinghe.

Asked by the Sunday Times why there has been no concerted awareness campaign, Dr. Dissanayake said that it was to prevent the public from panicking. But all Regional Epidemiologists have been activated to distribute leaflets and posters covering all viral diseases.

To a query on treatment protocols, he said that in this case, as it is linked to pneumonia, the relevant clinical college comes up with the answers. It is different for dengue and rat fever (leptospirosis) for which the Epidemiology Unit has set out Guidelines.

Referring to the activities of the Epidemiology Unit, Dr. Dissanayake said that there is a monthly meeting on influenza chaired by the DirectorGeneral of Health Services attended by top officers of the Health Ministry as well as other important officials including from the MRI and those handling animal health to which the Epidemiology Unit provides its input.

Asked about the Weekly Epidemiological Report (WER) put out by the unit in printed form, Dr. Dissanayake said that the last one came out in August 2017. The printing costs were borne with funding secured from the World Health Organization (WHO).

However, it had not been listed in the estimates for this year, which had been drawn up before he took up duties and as such could not be printed. The WER up to the end of April 2018 is on the web, he added.