65 probationary SIs, currently training at AP Prohibition & Excise Academy at Bandlaguda, Hyderabad, fell violently ill, and had to be hospitalised. They have been taken to Nallakunta Fever Hospital, and several other private hospitals, for treatment. Doctors have diagnosed the minidemic that swept through the academy as diphtheria - a water-borne bacterial respiratory infection.
The disease is most likely to have spread from contaminated ground water, say sources.
The trainee SIs had reportedly been going to their supervisors with complaints of fever and sore throats for 2-3 days now, but their complaints went unheeded. Today, around 65 of them fell severely ill, and had to be hospitalised, while a few others were sent home.
The trainees say that the Academy, which was supposed to conduct a six-month training programme, was cramming all of into the span of an extremely rigorous month, and wasn't even providing them with basic amenities. They claim that being so overworked left them vulnerable to this high-risk disease.