7 lose sight at Nellore eye camp, 15 infected

NELLORE/CHENNAI
Oct. 25: Days after undergoing free cataract surgery at a private hospital in Nellore district, 15 people were rushed on Sunday to Sankara Nethralaya hospital in Chennai with complaints of vision loss.

The free cataract operations were conducted on 30 people from Nellore town and surrounding villages last Monday at the Global Eye Foundation.

The eyeballs of four patients had to be removed by doctors at the Chennai hospital to prevent infection spreading to other parts. Three patients returned to Nellore after doctors in Chennai told them that their eyeballs would have to be removed. One of them, Shankar, 65, said that they were taken to different hospitals in Chennai and they panicked when they came to know about the proposal to remove their operated eye. “It is our bad fate and we are terribly worried over our future,” Mr Shankar said.

The condition of seven others is said to be critical. Ms Kranthi of Sramikanagar in Nellore town said that her mother and aunt were among the victims. One of her aunt’s eyes was removed in Chennai. “She is totally blind now since her only functioning eye has been extracted. We would have avoided the operation if we had any idea about the danger,” Kranthi said between sobs.

Locals said that the Global Eye Foundation medical team conducted the free medical camp in memory of Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy where they identified the persons for cataract surgery.

Mr Rafi of Gangapatnam village, whose father-in-law, Mr Shaik Khader Basha is one of the victims, said that the hospital staff told him there was no need for attendants when he and his wife, Jameela accompanied his father-in-law to the hospital in Nellore on Monday. “He returned home on his own on Tuesday morning and started complaining about severe pain in the eye by afternoon. The operated eye swelled like an egg within no time and we rushed him again to the Global Eye Foundation,” Mr Rafi said.

He said his father-in-law was taken along with other patients to Chennai. “Doctors at the Agarwal Eye Hospital in Chennai refused treatment after examining them and we were taken to Egmore Eye Hospital where the patients from Nellore were forced to sleep under trees. Global Eye Foundation staff shifted them to Sankara Nethralaya after we raised a hue and cry the next day,“ Mr afi said, narrating his harrowing tale.

He said that he noticed nine patients and he is not aware of the whereabouts of the others. Dr Sai Murali, chief of the Global Eye Foundation, said that they noticed serious infection in one of the patients who had undergone surgery on October 19 when he came to the hospital the next day complaining about irritation in the eye. “We took pains to locate other patients and rushed them to Chennai,” he said.

He claimed that they have conducted 40,000 free cataract surgeries under the national programme for control of blindness in the past six years and have never had any problem. He said that they are taking total care of all the patients at hospital cost and closely monitoring the condition of the remaining 15 patients.

A senior ophthalmologist said on condition of anonymity that infected medicines or instruments could be the cause of the infections. A spokesperson for Sankara Nethralaya, Mr Sivakumar, told this newspaper, “We performed emergency surgeries on four patients as the infected eye had to be removed to prevent spread of infection. Seven others are under observation, and receiving treatment. Their condition is being evaluated and surgery will be performed if needed.” The cause of the infection is yet to be ascertained; the hospital was concentrating on saving patients’ vision, he added.

Meanwhile, the Nellore district Collector, Mr K.Ramgopal, has formed a committee to probe into the infections on Friday and sent the team to Chennai to examine the victims, according the the blind control programme manager, Dr M. Manjulamma.