Four children, aged between five and 11 months and suffering from respiratory infections, died at the Dr BC Roy Post Graduate Institute of Paediatric Sciences in Kankurgachi between Sunday night and Monday morning, doctors said.
Among the four, the parents of 10-month-old Abir Hossain, from Deganga in North 24-Parganas district, said the baby had tested positive for the adenovirus. Abir, who died around 8.40am on Monday, was admitted to BC Roy hospital a week ago.
Doctors at the hospital said on Monday that while over 30 patients were on ventilator support, a greater number were discharged over the last few days as their condition improved.
The number of children being discharged by Dr BC Roy Institute is woefully short of the number of patients being brought to the hospital, mostly from North and South 24-Parganas, Nadia and Hooghly districts.
“We have asked the postgraduate trainees to be present 24X7 and lend their support to seniors. The fever clinic in the hospital has been made functional all days of the week,” said a senior doctor of the hospital.
An official in the state health department said on Monday that 12,343 children were admitted to hospitals across the state with acute respiratory infections in the past two-and-a-half months. Nineteen children who tested positive for the adenovirus died during this period.
“New admissions across government hospitals have come down from 800 daily a week ago to 600 daily,” the official said. “Only 265 of the 654 paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) beds in government hospitals across the state were occupied on Monday.”
The task force set up by the government to control the spread of the adenovirus and monitor the treatment of the “affected patients” met on Monday and decided that block-level health workers will visit houses and ensure children suffering from fever and chest congestion are taken to the nearest healthcare facility as early as possible.
“In the majority of cases, virus-hit children are being brought late to hospitals. As a result their condition turn critical. This has to be prevented by increasing awareness among parents,” said Gopal Krishna Dhali, head of the department of gastroenterology at SSKM Hospital and a member of the task force.
“Health workers will start visiting houses, identify children suffering for a few days and urge guardians to immediately take them to the nearest hospital.”
District hospitals, including the “mother-and-child hubs”, have been instructed to keep adequate stock of oxygen so that children with severe respiratory distress can be provided with oxygen support, the task force decided on Monday.
“Hospitals with neo-natal units, including those in districts and rural health set-ups, have been instructed to ensure that paediatricians are available around the clock,” Dhalisaid.
“Not just the adenovirus. Children are being affected by other viruses, too, including the influenza virus. Doctors will have to remain alert to all types of infections.”
The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission will meet representatives of private hospitals to review their infrastructure for treating children.
“We have to be prepared for such surge in viral infections in future. So, we’ll discuss the infrastructure of the private hospitals,” said retired judge Ashim Banerjee, chairperson of the commission.
The adenovirus was found in a large number of swab samples of children with respiratory infections. According to ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, of the 1,708 samples tested between January 1 and March 9, 650 were positive for the adenovirus.