Seven out of 10 labourers at Sobha site in Bengaluru test positive for cholera

BENGALURU: While St John’s Hospital found seven cases to be positive for Cholera from the workers’ stool samples out of 10 cases tested, autopsy of 20-year-old Srikant Sahu was finally done on Tuesday after a delay of three days for want of his family’s permission. The autopsy report is awaited.

Krishnappa B K, Varthur PHC medical officer, said, “We had anyway started treating them for cholera, based on clinical symptoms. Now that St John’s has found the cholera bacteria in hanging drop rapid diagnostic test in their stools samples, the diagnosis is confirmed, though the water samples tested positive only for E.coli. We have set up a screening camp here. There were no new cases since Tuesday.”

Meanwhile, Sobha Dreamacres construction site was inspected to check violations under three laws - Building and Other Construction Workers’ Act, Contract Labour Act and Interstate Migrant Workers’ Act. Under Workmen’s Compensation Act, the labour department has asked Sobha Developers to compensate the deceased.

“It is calculated by multiplying half of last drawn monthly salary into a factor determined by age. For example, a 20-year-old can get compensation of up to Rs 8.5 lakh. However, There is no provision to compensate the sick. So the company is bearing the medical bills,” said Additional Labour Commissioner HL Guruprasad.  

“If the two labourers in the ICU establish loss of earning capacity, then they will be compensated,” he said, adding that since the company had sent back all the labourers to their native places, it was finding it difficult to talk to their dependents. “They have orally told us that they have compensated the deceased with `25,000 each but we have asked them in writing,” he said.Varthur station police said that they had not received the autopsy report of Srikant Sahu from St John’s hospital yet as the hospital was waiting to incorporate Forensic Science Laboratory’s findings into the report.

Sanjiv Lewin, Medical Superintendent of St John’s Hospital, said, “Diagnosis of cholera requires patient’s stool samples to be tested by hanging drop and/or cultures. Eight out of 10 patient samples tested positive for cholera. The  water may or may not test for cholera. The water may be positive for E. Coli indicating fecal contamination. Vibrio cholera in aquatic environments (water) may be viable but not culturable. It will usually readily grow from stool samples of patients.”