KOLKATA: Three youngsters died within the metropolis between Saturday and Sunday of acute respiratory an infection (ARI), one in all them from adenovirus, who couldn’t be supplied an intensive care mattress on the state’s solely referral hospital for kids as a result of none was obtainable, the deaths underscoring the severity of viral infections in children this 12 months, which have claimed a number of lives.

Two of the three casualties of the final 24 hours had been infants and died at Dr BC Roy Post Graduate Institute of Paediatric Sciences in Phoolbagan. The third, a one-and-a-half-year-old toddler, died at Medical College Hospital.
The viral panel take a look at outcomes of two of the unconfirmed – however suspected adenovirus – casualties is awaited. Doctors wouldn’t verify whether or not these had been additionally on account of adenovirus with out the ultimate outcomes. The outcomes of a viral panel take a look at, which confirms the virus answerable for an infection, are presupposed to arrive in “not more than five hours, from sample collection to delivery”, in response to an skilled. One of the 2 boys, whose infections are as but unconfirmed, was hospitalised on February 20; the opposite was admitted no less than two days in the past.
The confirmed adenovirus sufferer was a nine-month-old boy from Howrah’s Udaynaraynpur. The boy had been admitted to the Phoolbagan hospital, the state’s solely referral hospital for kids, the primary time on February 2, the place he underwent intensive therapy for an adenovirus an infection earlier than being discharged. But his mother and father needed to deliver him again on February 19 with recurrent episodes of respiratory misery and wheezing. The hospital authorities couldn’t present him a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) mattress this time as a result of all such beds had been occupied. He was admitted within the basic ward.
The boy’s mother and father claimed that they had introduced him again to the hospital on February 14 after he began operating a fever, however that docs on the outpatient division didn’t admit him. The mother and father mentioned they needed to rush again to the hospital on February 19 after he confirmed indicators of respiratory misery.
‘Intensive care unit bursting at seams’
An official of the Dr BC Roy Post Graduate Institute of Paediatric Sciences in Phoolbagan confirmed that the nine-monthold boy from Howrah’s Udaynaraynpur, who died on Saturday, was adenoviruspositive.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to provide a PICU bed as all such beds were occupied. Our PICU is bursting at the seams with children battling viral infections, including many referred from other hospitals, mostly from the districts,” he added.
Another toddler, an eightmonth-old boy, died on the identical hospital on Sunday morning. This boy, from Baduria in North 24 Parganas, had been admitted to the hospital on February 20 with ARI. His dying certificates mentions “severe pneumonia”.
The third casualty of acute respiratory an infection (ARI) was a one-and-a-half-year-old, Rudrik Sarkar, at Medical College Hospital. The boy was referred from the College of Medicine and Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital, Kalyani, a few days in the past.
The toddler died on Sunday morning, his dying certificates mentioning sepsis and bronchopneumonia as the reason for dying. “The boy was brought to Kolkata in a very acute condition with severe respiratory distress. We have sent his samples for a viral panel test. Unfortunately, even before the confirmatory report came in, the boy passed away despite all possible medical support,” mentioned a supply on the hospital.
The mother and father of the kid mentioned that they needed to go to just a few hospitals within the metropolis searching for a mattress at pediatric intensive care unit earlier than they might get one on the hospital.