Following the epidemic declared in Gostivar due to contaminated water from the city’s water supply system, jaundice may also emerge as a subsequent consequence, the Commission for Infectious Diseases warned Saturday.
The Commission says that they are closely monitoring the situation with the epidemic in Gostivar and the health picture of patients who have recently been admitted to hospitals due to stomach problems, and they point out that in the current situation there must be no communication either among Gostivar residents or among the health authorities.
“The Commission raised the alarm in time so that the health system would not relax, because it is possible that in addition to these intestinal causes, we could also have an outbreak of hepatitis A, but also hepatitis E, which is normally reported to the Ministry (of Health) and the health authorities in the country in a timely manner,” Zaklina Shopova, infectious disease specialist at the Commission.
According to her, there can be many causes of illness and this picture is not uncommon in such epidemics, when different viruses and bacteria can be found in the body due to the mixing of clean and contaminated water, but she adds that the answer to who is the “culprit” that exactly made each patient sick will never be known.
