Dengue Claims Boy, Parents Say Doctors Delayed Meds

BENGALURU: A 10-year-old boy died of dengue on Monday, amid allegations that Bowring Hospital had failed to give him medicines in time. Saqlain Sharief was admitted on Thursday, but doctors did not have the required medicines in stock, his parents said. They took him out of the hospital early Monday morning.

The hospital allegedly told the boy’s relatives to arrange for the prescriptions from outside. “This delay resulted in his death,” said Javed Pasha, Saqlain’s father.

Had the medicines been administered as soon as he was admitted, he would have survived, Pasha said. Denying the charge, the hospital said its services were as good as those at any private hospital.

“We can only give symptomatic treatment for dengue as it has no specific medicine,” said Dr Prasanna Kumar, resident medical officer, Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital.  “The question of asking for medicine from outside does not arise.” Saqlain’s family, living in Nagawara, had brought him to the hospital in a serious condition. “He was admitted to the ICU, and we did a platelets transfusion and dialysis. His condition did not improve,” Dr Kumar said.

A test had revealed he was dengue-positive. Before a blood sample could be sent for another test to the National Institute of Virology, Saqlain’s relatives got him discharged, he said. “When the boy was taken out, he was alive.” he said.

Health officials at BBMP, tasked with the control of the dengue larvae, argued over the jurisdiction and did not take responsibility.

Fever Facts

■  Dengue fever begins four to six days after infection, and lasts up to 10 days

■  Symptoms include sudden high fever, severe headaches, pain behind the eyes, joint and muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, and skin rashes that appear three to four days after the onset of fever

■  Some of the patients experience bleeding of nose and gums and easy bruising

■  Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a rare complication characterised by high fever, damage to lymph and blood vessels, bleeding from the nose and gums, enlargement of the liver and failure of the circulatory system

■  The symptoms may progress to massive bleeding, shock and death. This is called the dengue shock syndrome

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