Khaleej Times

217 kids died in Gorakhpur hospital this August

- AP

lucknow — Death continues to haunt a government hospital in north India that came under fire earlier this month after dozens of babies died within two days.

Dr. P.K. Singh, the head of the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur city, said on Wednesday that at least 217 children died there in August alone due to a variety of reasons including an annual encephalit­is outbreak. Singh added that 42 children have died in the last 48 hours. Seven of the deaths were from encephalit­is while the others were attributed to other medical complicati­ons.

The hospital found itself in the middle of a media storm earlier this month when 33 children died there Aug. 10 and 11 around the same time as a disruption in the oxygen supply. A team of experts from New Delhi later said that the interrupti­on was not responsibl­e for the deaths, but there was fury in India over how the hospital let oxygen run out.

“Increase in fatality is because of seasonal infection,” Singh said, explaining the deaths. “There is no shortage of oxygen or medicine in the hospital. Children died only because of medical complicati­on not because of medical negligence.” It’s wellknown that encephalit­is wreaks havoc in the area every year during the monsoon season.

Experts say this year, fatalities from encephalit­is are expected to be high because of excessive rains and flooding across eastern Uttar Pradesh and particular­ly the area in and around Gorakhpur.

The city is 250 kilomeres southeast of Lucknow, state capital of Uttar Pradesh.

Medical experts say the government continues to be taken by surprise and unprepared for what is now an annual cycle of disease and death.

“Any layman can tell you that in view of flooding, the cases of vector-borne diseases are likely to go up. But what shocks me is that the administra­tion has taken no preventive step,” said Dr. R.N. Singh, a local expert who has worked with encephalit­is patients for years. —

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