Islamabad: A strange affliction has hit
two Pakistani villages with many women reporting ill after hiccupping non-stop.
As many as 20 women started hiccupping mysteriously
and four of them had to be hospitalised at the Civil Hospital
in the Hyderabad region of southern Sindh province.
The women, who hail from two villages in Matiari
district, are believed to be relatives.
Safia, 22, Aasia, 16, Fehmida, 22 and Aalam Khatoon,
25, have been hospitalised, but doctors have been unable to
diagnose the illness affecting them.
Doctors have so far linked the problem to some
underlying fears and bottled up emotions which were being
vented by hiccupping.
A seven-member medical team has been sent to the
villages from Hyderabad city.
Razzaq, a doctor of the state-run Civil Hospital in
Hyderabad, told a TV news channel that a report would be
submitted after the team examines the women.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 14:50