India: Hundreds hospitalized due to mysterious illness

NEW DELHI

At least person has died and hundreds hospitalized due to an unidentified illness in the southern state Andhra Pradesh in India, an official confirmed on Monday.

Over 400 patients complaining of headaches and seizures were reported to a government hospital in the town of Eluru, West Godavari district over the last three days, with 168 of them being discharged.

“So far there are a total of 402 admissions... the cause of sickness is not known so far,” Himanshu Shukla, one of the senior most administrative officers in the area, told Anadolu Agency.

Former state chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has demanded an "impartial" and "full-fledged inquiry" into the incident. “The #Eluru incident is just the tip of an iceberg. The Govt's negligence & the deterioration of healthcare services across AP [Andhra Pradesh] stands exposed today. It's a shame for any Govt if it can't provide basic necessities like safe & clean drinking water to our people,” he tweeted on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the current chief minister, YS Jangmohan Reddy, visited the town and met the patients and their families, according to a statement by his office. He told them "to be brave," and asked doctors about their treatment.

It comes as India continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic, having the world's second-highest COVID-19 caseload.

While the South Asian nation is approaching 10 million infections, the tally in Andhra Pradesh has crossed 869,000.

Meanwhile, the Serum Institute of India applied for emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine it has developed with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.

“As promised, before the end of 2020, @SerumInstIndia has applied for emergency use authorisation for the first made-in-India vaccine, COVISHIELD. This will save countless lives, and I thank the Government of India and Sri @narendramodi ji for their invaluable support,” Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive of the Serum Institute of India," said on Twitter.

Pfizer India has also sought a nod from the Drugs Controllers General of India for emergency use of its antigen.