Do not take a viral infection casually, father tells parents

Aliya’s father Niyaz Ali cannot believe that his beloved daughter is no more. Ali, a businessman, told Gulf News that “Alia was a robust, healthy, energetic and creative child who aspired to be a graphic designer. She never fell ill. Last week, she had a viral infection and did not go to school for three days. She had high fever the first day but subsequently, the fever was mild as she was on paracetamol tablets. On Sunday, November 11, she resumed going to school and was perfectly fine.”

On Monday, November 12, Alia complained of chest and stomach pain. “By Tuesday morning, she was screaming in agony saying her chest, back, intestines and stomach hurt, so we took her again to Dr Joseph’s Polyclinic. The general physician conducted an ECG and found it normal. He referred her to Rashid Hospital where she reached at 12.30pm,” Ali said.

According to the family, Aliya had eaten some gooseberry pickle at home and a sandwich at school on Sunday. The doctors at Rashid Hospital ruled out food poisoning as she had no symptoms of nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea. The family was asked about the places they travelled to. “Alia and the family had visited our hometown in Kerala during the summer holidays, but neither she nor my other children had any sickness or fever after returning from India,” Ali said.

“The doctors repeated the ECG, blood and MRI tests and put her on IV fluids and antibiotics, but could not tell us what was causing her so much pain. By early evening, the doctor told me that he had detected fluid collecting outside Aliya’s heart, liver and pancreas and concluded that was the cause of pain. I was by her side at around 6.30pm when she suddenly closed her eyes. A battery of doctors and nurses tried to revive her — first manually and then with machines — but she never woke up,” a tearful Ali recalled.

A death certificate issued by Rashid Hospital said she died of “cardiogenic shock”. She was declared dead at 9pm on Tuesday.

Aliya is Ali’s fourth child. Her siblings are Fehmina, Aman, Azaan and Ayaan. The grieving family has a word of caution for other parents. “Do not take a viral infection casually. There is something that affects the heart and other vital organs. Please take your child immediately to hospital the moment she or he complains of fever.”