Patna: At least 32 people, including 18 children, have died of diarrhoea in flood-hit Bihar's Supaul and Saharsa districts, officials said Saturday, giving rise to the fear of an epidemic among those affected by the calamity.

Supaul and Saharsa are two of the worst-hit districts. Officials engaged in relief and rescue operations said that diarrhoea was an outcome of people drinking contaminated water. Official sources said that 10 people died of diarrhoea in Supaul, while dozens were suffering from the water-borne disease. The village body head of Manganj panchayat in Triveniganj block said that 17 people, who were taking shelter on the rooftop of the village middle school, had died of the disease.

The toll in Araria district is five. Officials admitted that over 100 cases of diarrhoea and dysentery have been reported from flood-hit areas. Most patients complain of vomiting, loose motion and stomach ache - the main symptoms of diarrhoea. "Lack of access to clean drinking water is a major cause of the spread of diarrhoea as people are forced to consume water from contaminated sources for survival," an official of the state disaster management department told IANS over telephone.

International aid agencies and NGOs had earlier warned of a likely outbreak of epidemics in the flood hit areas. Reports of people suffering from high fever and pneumonia have also been rising by the day in the past week.

With the impending threat of epidemics, the government has started an immunisation drive for measles at all the 300 relief camps. On Friday, the central government s health ministry said that around 300 tonnes of medicines would be sent to Bihar. "We are sending 37 varieties of medicines to tackle the health problem in Bihar.

Fourteen million chlorine tablets, 630,000 doses of measles vaccine, malaria-testing kits and some other medicines have already been dispatched," said Health Secretary Naresh Dayal. Nineteen days after floods hit the state, hundreds of thousands of people are still marooned.

Source : IANS