A village in Kerala in the throes of a health crisis

Over the last month, over 200 people in Vengoor, a panchayat in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, have been hospitalised with hepatitis A, a virus which spreads through contaminated water or food. Three people have died and about 30 continue to be in hospital, even as the district administration has ordered a magisterial inquiry to confirm the factors that led to the outbreak. The victims, meanwhile, are reeling under mounting hospital bills and loss of work, reports G. Krishnakumar