2 more killed, 8 attacked in two days in Companyganj

Viral Encephalitis is back again in bordering Companyganj upazila in Sylhet, killing two more children after a respite of 10 days. Eight people have been attacked in the upazila since Friday, sources said.
The dead are Saifur Rahman, 8 and Surupa,4-son and daughter of Saju Miah of Notun Meghargaon village under Islampur union.
All in the family members expect Saju Miah were attacked with the disease. They were first taken to Companiganj Health complex.
Doctors at the health complex sent them to Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital, where Saifur died after some time followed by his sister Surupa.
Saju Miah took the bodies home leaving his wife Alam Bbibi,40, elder son Shafique Miah, 18 and daughter Shirin Akhtar, 10, at the hospital for treatment.
Five more people were attacked with the disease in the village on the same day, sources said.
A doctor at Osmani Medical College Hospital said there was no report of any attack by the disease from November 15 to 22.
Health officials said a medical team was sent to Goainghat yesterday in view of reappearance of the disease.
Till November 15, a total of 79 people were admitted to Osmani Hospital. Of them, 7 died and the rest 72 were released after treatment, he added.
High profile teams including acting director general of health and principal of Dhaka Medical College visited the affected villages and patients at Osmani Medical College Hospital after the disease broke out in the two upazilas on November 2.
To identify the disease, the visiting teams of experts and doctors collected samples of vomit and urine of patients and drinking water and vegetables consumed by locals for clinical tests.
The samples were being tested at the Institute of Epidemiology and Disease Control (IEDC) in Dhaka and findings are awaited, health officials in Sylhet said yesterday. Samples were also sent abroad, he added.
After the disease was first reported from Copmpanyganj, a five-member team led by Dr. Abdul Malek, senior scientific officer at IEDC, visited the area. This was followed by another expert team.
All the experts earlier said the disease was Viral Encephalitis.
The disease first broke out in a village in Gowainghat on November 2 and then spread to Companiganj. It so far claimed 26 lives and attacked over 100 people in the two upazilas.