An explanation regarding the circulating facts about a fever that is spreading among the soldiers in a Mannar Army camp!

In the past two days a news caught the attention of many people as it said that some soldiers undergoing training at a Mannar military training school have been quarantined due to fever. This news has caused some fear among people and therefore, we decided to do an investigation on that.

Social Media Posts:

A message was shared through WhatsApp explaining that Swarnawahini media channel has reported that, due to a fever, the training of the Mannar Army Training camp has been temporarily stopped and 25 soldiers have been hospitalized. Many people were anxious to know information about this as the message questions whether it is a similar situation to Covid 19 pandemic.

The message further explained that Dr. Lalith Mendis has advised to take cloves and drinks like cinnamon tea, Coriander and Kaluduru tea, to prevent the spread of the fever.

The Covid 19 pandemic also started with the spread at military camps and people inquired about the current situation as they are anxious whether it will be a pandemic situation like Covid 19. 

Explainer:

First, we checked how the Swarnawahini media channel has reported the news as it was mentioned in the WhatsApp message. The news was reported with the heading, “Due to a fever, training at a Mannar military training school is temporarily suspended”.

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The news explains that due to the spread of fever among the soldiers undergoing training at the Mannar Veditallativu Army camp, nearly five hundred trainees of the camp have been quarantined in the camp itself.

Army Media Spokesperson Major General Rasika Kumara

The army media spokesperson reported that 24 soldiers have been hospitalized due to the spread of fever among the soldiers who were engaged in training since the 11^th. Furthermore, two soldiers with critical condition have been admitted to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID). Due to this the training at the camp has been stopped and the other soldiers have been quarantined in the camp as per the doctor’s recommendation.

Here, here, and here you can refer how the other media channels have reported on this.

Medical Health Officer, Mannar.

We inquired about this from the Medical Health Office of Mannar. According to their report, around 7 soldiers have been admitted to the Mannar hospital because of a fever condition. As the condition has spread among the soldiers, they have stopped the training but the condition has resurfaced since the starting of practice again.

One soldiers has been admitted to the Jaffna hospital as his condition has been critical and now, he has been discharged from the hospital. Another two soldiers have been sent to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID). The NIID has said that this is a fever caused by a bacterial condition called Meningococcal.

The Medical Health Office further says that currently this fever situation has not spread among the common people and is not like Covid 19.

Currently all the soldiers have been quarantined and they have stopped the training temporarily. They say that symptoms like fever, headache and body aches are caused by this condition.

Dr. Aruna Chandanayake of National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID)

Dr. Aruna Chandanayake of the NIID says that this is not a situation like the Covid 19 pandemic. He says that as this is a bacterial infection, the common symptoms of a bacterial infection can be seen.

Also, citing the National Institute of Infectious Diseases about the situation in the army camp, Daily Mirror reported that necessary arrangements have been made to control the disease caused by meningococcal bacteria.

Due to meningococcal bacteria, there was an outbreak of this condition among the Galle prisoners last year in 2023, and the authorities took necessary steps to prevent the spread of the condition to the outside society.

Here, you can refer to how Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama has explained about the possible infectious situations due to the meningococcal bacteria. He explains that although there is a risk of this condition spreading through the close personal contact, and through saliva and phlegm it is not a condition like Covid 19, and that it does not spread that fast and widely. 

As mentioned in the social media notes, we have inquired whether the doctor named Lalith Mendis has informed the media about the measures that can be followed to control this condition, but we did not find any information about such an awareness by the doctor. Therefore, we hope to confirm this from the doctor himself and update this article regarding that.

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Conclusion

It is confirmed that the fever condition that was caused in an army camp in Veditallativu, Mannar has been caused due to a bacterial infection. Medical officials have confirmed that the condition has not spread among the common people and that there’s no need to be anxious about that because it is not similar to Covid 19.