Now 'common cold' kills 6 infants in West Bengal

Malda (West Bengal), Dec 24: With West Bengal still recovering from the shock and horror of the infant deaths recently, another case has come up when 6 infants died in a worse case of medical negligence. The children were suffering from only a "common cold" and died in a matter of eight hours after being admitted to the neo-natal unit of Malda District Sadar Hospital.

With the parents of the deceased children distraught, the hospital authorities have washed their hands off the blame by saying that the deaths were due to the lack of proper facilities. The parents however allege that it was negligence on the part of the hospital staff that caused the deaths.

The children who died were between the age group of one month to two months. Mostly from impoverished backgrounds, the children were referred to the hospital from remote interiors in WB for respiratory complications.

The state is seeing a spate of infant deaths in recent times with as many as 26 newborns dead in government hospital in just 6 days from Nov 11.

Mamata had ordered a high-level task force to probe into the rising number of infant deaths in govt hospitals. She is also in-charge of the health portfolio in the state. The task force which visited the Malda hospital concluded that the hospital lacks basic facilities and a shortage of staff. They also found that the hygiene levels in the hospital were low.

OneIndia News