Viral infection blamed for four inmate deaths in Jhumka

ITAHARI: Viral infection has been identified as the cause of the deaths of four inmates at Jhumka Prison in Sunsari over the past 15 days.

Alongside the infection, many inmates were found to be suffering from anxiety. The sudden spike in deaths and illness among prisoners prompted the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS) to dispatch an emergency medical team to the prison for health screening. Test reports later confirmed that the deaths resulted from a viral infection.

Sunsari Chief District Officer Dharmendra Mishra and SP Suman Kumar Timalsina had informed BPKIHS on Wednesday evening about the worsening health conditions of prisoners. Around 100 inmates were reported to have fever, body aches, nasal congestion and breathing difficulties. Following this, a team of doctors and health workers was mobilized to conduct tests and begin treatment.

According to BPKIHS Spokesperson Dr Abhijit Kumar, health workers examined 353 out of the 1,793 inmates in the prison. Around 100 were found to have high fever, and out of 35 tested for malaria, two tested positive.

“Twelve critically ill inmates were brought to the emergency ward the same night, and another five were admitted on Thursday,” Dr Kumar said. “Their conditions are now stable.”

He added that a Rapid Response Team (RRT) is treating the inmates while taking precautions against a potential outbreak of infectious diseases. Dengue tests were conducted on 35 inmates, one of whom tested positive. Ten others were tested for COVID-19, but all were negative.

BPKIHS Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Bikram Prasad Shrestha and Hospital Director Dr Jagat Narayan Prasad assigned a nine-member team for the intervention, including two physicians from the Department of Medicine, two from Emergency Medicine and General Practice, one from Anesthesiology along with two staff nurses and two lab technicians.

“Similar health issues have led to three prisoner deaths in the facility so far,” Dr Kumar said. Of the recent fatalities, one inmate died inside the prison, and one at Sunsari District Hospital in Inaruwa at BPKIHS.

One of the deceased had been kept under dialysis for septic shock and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, a condition in which several vital organs, heart, lungs, kidneys and liver, stop functioning properly. However, doctors were unable to save his life.

Prof Dr Rabin Maskey, head of the Department of Medicine at BPKIHS, said viral infections have been on the rise over the past month. “The same trend has been observed inside the prison, with a large number of inmates now sick due to viral infection,” he said.