Two more children died after suffering from respiratory distress in government hospitals in Kolkata on Wednesday, the latest casualties of a wave of viral infections sweeping across parts of West Bengal.
Officials of the hospitals where the kids died — Dr BC Roy Post Graduate Institute of Paediatric Sciences and the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital — said on Wednesday there had been a decline in the number of children being admitted with respiratory distress over the past couple of days.
One of them, however, added that the drop in admissions could be because of fewer transport on Dol and Holi (Tuesday and Wednesday), which prevented many parents from bringing their sick children to hospital.
A six-month-old girl from Hooghly district’s Mogra, who had tested positive for the adenovirus, died at Calcutta Medical College on Wednesday. She was admitted to the hospital on February 27.
“The girl was referred to our hospital from Hooghly Imambara District Hospital. She had pneumonia and died of sepsis with multiorgan failure,” said an official of the medical college.
A 10-month-old boy from Bongaon in North 24-Parganas district died at Dr BC Roy Institute at 9.30am on Wednesday. The child was admitted to the hospital on Monday. The death certificate mentioned pulmonary haemorrhage and severe bilateral pneumonia.
At Calcutta Medical College, 12 children with respiratory illness were admitted between Tuesday evening and Wednesday evening, a significant drop from usual daily admissions in this category over the past several days.
“We admitted between 30 and 32 children with respiratory illness every day over the past several days. Between Tuesday evening and Wednesday evening, only 12 children with respiratory illnesses were admitted,” said an official of the hospital.
Dr BC Roy Institute has witnessed a drop of “10 to 20” per cent on Tuesday and Wednesday in the number of children admitted with respiratory infections, compared with the preceding days.
“We admitted about 25 children with respiratory infections every day for last many days. The admission count was 10 to 20 per cent lower on Tuesday and Wednesday,” said an official of the hospital.
The official at Dr BC Roy Institute, however, added a caveat. There were much fewer transport options on Tuesday and Wednesday because of Dol and Holi celebrations and many parents were not in a position to take their ailing children to hospital.
“Everyone does not come in a hired car or ambulance. Buses were fewer on these two days. If the trend of fewer admissions holds over the next two or three days, we can say the worst is over,” the official said.
The state health department issued an order on Monday cancelling the leave of all health officials and doctors in hospitals who are associated with the treatment of children suffering from an acute respiratory infection.
The order was issued to ensure the presence of an adequate number of doctors in hospitals to treat children.
The order read that the leave of principals, medical superintendent-cum-vice-principals, superintendents, additional superintendents, deputy superintendents, assistant superintendents, paediatricians, faculty members and medical officers of critical care units in hospitals who are associated with the management of acute respiratory infection cases was cancelled.
Health department officials have said respiratory infections are common during change of seasons but the number of children getting infected and requiring hospital care has been higher this year compared with other years.
At Calcutta Medical College and Dr BC Roy Institute, a significant number children admitted were referred by hospitals in districts. A number of parents brought their children to the city hospitals after getting them discharged from district hospitals by signing “risk bonds”.