Mysuru:  The Zilla Panchayat (ZP) Council yesterday decided to recommend to the State Government to take action against District Health Officer (DHO) Dr. Venkatesh and K.R. Nagar Taluk Health officer (THO) Dr. Shivaprasad for their failure to act against those responsible for the incident that took place over 10 days ago at K.R. Nagar Taluk Hospital, in which one person died and 28 others who were undergoing dialysis at the Hospital, contracted Hepatitis C virus (HCV).

The ZP General Meeting, chaired by ZP President Parimala Shyam, saw the members, irrespective of party affiliations, venting out their ire against the DHO and K.R. Nagar THO.

Accusing the DHO of failing to submit a report even after 10 days of the incident, the members alleged that the incident had happened due to the negligence of the Health Department Officials and the staff of the dialysis centre at K.R. Nagar Hospital.

The members maintained that THO Dr. Shivaprasad, who was serving at K.R. Nagar from the past 16 years, had failed in his duty and took a transfer to Mysuru soon after the incident.

Members Dr. Pushpa Amarnath, D. Ravishankar, J. Achyutananda and Beerihundi Basavanna demanded action against the Health Officials for the lapses. They also urged for the termination of service of those technicians at the dialysis centre, whom they held responsible for the tragic incident.

However, DHO Dr. Venkatesh claimed that he had submitted a preliminary enquiry report to DC Abhiram G. Sankar and ZP CEO K. Jyothi. The report was also forwarded to Health Minister Shivananda Patil, he said adding that he has issued a show-cause notice to the THO.

Pointing out that out of the 33 persons who underwent dialysis, 28 were affected by HCV, Dr. Venkatesh said that the Department was providing free treatment to all the affected patients.

ZP CEO K. Jyothi said that she has received a primary investigation report and it was not right to decide anything right away. The ZP CEO suggested that the DHO and THO be given more time to rectify their mistakes.

However, the ZP Members insisted on disciplinary action against both Dr. Venkatesh and Dr. Shivaprasad, following which ZP President Parimala Shyam announced that the State Government will be recommended to take action against the DHO, THO and other staff at the Hospital responsible for the incident.

Experts visit K.R. Nagar Hospital

Even as the ZP Members were venting out their ire against the K.R. Nagar Hospital incident, a team of experts from Manipal Centre for Virology visited the K.R. Nagar Taluk Hospital on Friday and collected samples to conduct a genetic study of the patients who contracted HCV at the Hospital.

The team, after conducing a study of the collected samples, will submit a report to the health authorities in a few days, according to DHO Dr. Venkatesh. 

The DHO blamed the dialysis centre technicians for the spread of the virus.