Spate of mysterious hair loss causes panic in 3 Buldhana villages

In Shegaon tehsil, over 55 villagers face sudden hair loss, prompting health officials to investigate potential fungal infections and water quality issues.

MUMBAI: Over a week ago when a farmer (who chose not to be named) from Bondgaon village, in Buldhana district’s Shegaon tehsil, ran a comb through his hair vigorously to relieve a stubborn itchiness in his scalp, he found tufts being rooted out. “And within two days I had lost all my hair,” he said.

Villagers have experienced sudden and severe hair loss leading to baldness within days. Representative Image (Pixabay)

He is one of over 55 people from Shegaon tehsil’s three villages – Bondgaon, Kalwad and Hingna – who have experienced sudden and severe hair loss leading to baldness within days, over the last one week; and according to health officials the numbers are likely to rise.

Located 80 kilometers from Buldhana city, the villages have a population of 1700, where most are either farm owners who grow soy and toor daal, or are farm labourers.

Bondgaon’s sarpanch, Rameshwar Dharkar, said the malaise first came to light on January 2, when three women of a single household started experiencing severe hair fall. “When they were sent to a public health centre located two kilometers away, doctors suspected it was the consequence of using a certain hair-washing product. They prescribed temporary medication and referred them to a taluka health centre,” said Dharkar. “However, when similar cases began appearing among other villagers, we contacted higher-ups in the district.”

Digambar Imale, a resident of Bondgaon, said, such is the severity of the malaise, “that even a gentle touch or tug cause hair to fall out in clumps”. Within a week, he said, several people found themselves going completely bald.

Another anxious villager said, “The local doctor was overwhelmed and utterly confused by this phenomenon, and advised us to go to a government hospital. But when we went there, doctors said they had never seen anything like this before and could not provide any medicine till Wednesday.”

As word spread, government health officials started visiting the villages to identify the ailment’s root cause. Dr Deepali Bhayekar, a tehsil-level medical officer, said, “A team of health officials has collected samples of water, hair and skin of people from the villages for analysis. While the cause of the outbreak remains unknown, preliminary investigations are focussed on the quality of water in the affected areas. Samples collected from local water sources are being tested at a lab in Pune.”

Meanwhile, doctors have urged residents to maintain good health and hygiene, as they await the results.

Imale added, “The mysterious nature of the illness has left all of us very anxious – many are worried that this could be a symptom of a grave and unidentified health threat or a result of environmental contamination. We are waiting for the government to give us guidelines to follow.”

Another villager said, “In order to be safe, we have stopped using the water from our villages and have been sourcing it from nearby areas since last week.”

Fungal infection?

Dr Amol Gite, the district medical officer, stated, “On Wednesday, a team of health experts, including a skin specialist, visited the villages and collected 51 samples of blood, skin and water from all three villages. We suspect this may be a fungal infection. We are taking all precautions, providing preliminary treatment to affected individuals, and will take further action once the test results arrive.”

Buldhana district collector Kiran Patil, however said that this was unlikely to stem from water contamination, as the villages have been using the same supply for generations.

“Our water is saline with a total dissolved solids (TDS) level between 1200 and 1500. While we used to drink this water earlier, for the past few years, we have been relying on tanker water for drinking purposes. District hospital authorities have collected all the samples. We will set out on the future course of action once the results are out,” said Dharkar.

After examining a few patients, Dr Sanjay Mahajan, a medical practitioner who has worked in the region for 24 years, said, “It seems to be a fungal infection, which can have various classifications. We need to understand the specific type which will be clear only when the test results come out. The village uses saline water, and it is crucial that hair washed with this water is dried thoroughly. If not, moisture at the roots can lead to fungal infections.”

He added, “As most of the affected villagers belong to the labour class they may not have the time to maintain optimal hygiene, which could explain the rapid spread. Usually, we see three to four such cases annually, but this scale is unprecedented.”

Mahajan also drew attention to “environmental changes such as global warming and increased rainfall which may have altered the quality of the ground water; this could explain why the issue is arising now”.