Kolkata: Adenovirus claims lives of 10 children in 48 hours

On Wednesday, four children died in Kolkata’s two hospitals and two others in Bankura Medical College and Hospital.
Image used for representational purpose only.
Image used for representational purpose only.

KOLKATA: Ten children--newborn to three years old--with symptoms of adenovirus infection died in the past 48 hours at hospitals in Kolkata and Bankura.

With this, the number of deaths due to the virus-borne disease in Bengal has gone up to 45 in the past two months.

Following this, the state health department has issued advisories ensuring the presence of pediatricians in government hospitals round-the-clock. A helpline number has been announced. People can call the round-the-clock helpline number 1800-313444222 for admission-related and other inquiries.      

On Wednesday, four children died in Kolkata’s two hospitals and two others in Bankura Medical College and Hospital.

Flooded with children coming from districts, the state health department said in an advisory that no child with a respiratory ailment can be referred to a hospital in Kolkata without ensuring that a bed is booked at the destination healthcare facility. The referral, if needed, must be done with the knowledge of the superintendent of the hospital, the advisory mentioned.

The state government asked all medical colleges, district hospitals, sub-divisional hospitals and state general hospitals across Bengal to run separate clinics for children with an acute respiratory infection (ARI) in the paediatric outpatient department. The special clinics will be meant for those with respiratory illnesses so they do not have to wait in the OPD queue with other patients.    

A doctor at a hospital said the current spate of viral attacks was causing immune dysregulation which disrupts the normal immune system and makes children vulnerable to reinfection.

"The inflammatory process that is being triggered inside the body to kill live viruses is creating some problems which we call dysregulated immunity. The initiation of the inflammatory process is helping the child recover from the initial infection but leads to some other problems. We have noticed that some children are falling sick again after being discharged from the hospital. We have asked experts to examine the reason behind it,’’ said an official of the health department.  

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