296 children died in India hospital under media fire

OFFICIALS AT BRD HOSPITAL ADMIT 42 HAVE DIED IN THE LAST 48 HOURS ALONE

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.

Yesterday it was revealed that as many as 296 children have died at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital this month.

The hospital found itself in the middle of a media storm earlier this month when 33 children died there on August 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,” the medical college’s principal P. K. Singh said. “There is no shortage of oxygen or medicine in the hospital. Children died only because of medical complication not because of medical negligence.”

Of these, 213 died in the neonatal Intensive Care Unit and 83 in the encephalitis ward, Singh said, adding that 37 children died on August 27 and 28, of whom 26 died in the neonatal ICU and 11 in encephalitis wards. Doctors said that many children come in “extremely critical condition” from Bihar, Nepal as well as other districts of the state, where it is “nearly impossible to reverse their condition”.

217 children died at BRD Medical College in August alone. 4,000 children have died since 2010 of encephalitis in UP.

Dcontinues 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, head of the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur city, said yesterday 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 when 33 children died there on August 10 and 11 around the same time as a disruption in oxygen supply. A team of experts from New Delhi later said 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 well-known 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 kilometres 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 vectorborne diseases are likely to go up. But what shocks me is that the administration has taken no preventive step,” said Dr RN Singh, a local expert who has worked with encephalitis patients for years. “There is no attempt to prevent spread of communicative diseases.”

Indian hospitals have been routinely criticised for poor management, widespread corruption and outright negligence.

Encephalitis has killed more than 4,000 children and sickened nearly 25,000 since 2010 in Uttar Pradesh. Some of the children who died had the brain-swelling condition. Acute encephalitis syndrome causes patients to suffer from fever, vomiting, headaches and brain function issues such as confusion, trouble speaking and coma along with seizures.