Fever: Panic grips North Bengal as child deaths rise

The districts in North Bengal that have come under the grip of panic are Darjeeling, Malda and Cooch Behar. With the rise in fever cases, death count has been steadily climbing.

Jaipaiguri/Malda/Cooch Behar:What started as isolated cases of fever among children in the Jalpaiguri district, is now spreading to different districts of North Bengal. The districts in North Bengal that have come under the grip of panic are Darjeeling, Malda and Cooch Behar. With the rise in fever cases, death count has been steadily climbing.

On Thursday, one more child complaining of fever and breathing problems died at Malda Medical College & Hospital, taking the total count to three in the district. According to reliable sources, close to 200 children have already been admitted at the medical college ever since the fever outbreak.

However, Dr. Partha Pratim Mukhopadhya, Principal of Malda Medical College & Hospital, claimed that there is 'nothing unnatural' and ruled out the spike, calling it part of seasonal flu.

On Wednesday, the Chief Medical Officer in charge of North Bengal, Sushanta Roy said that among the eight districts in north Bengal, the maximum number of children affected by fever and breathing problems has been reported from Malda. Till Wednesday the number was 199.

On Tuesday morning, a five-month-old child named Mangal Dom died at the hospital. His family members alleged that he died due an delay in treatment.

Dr. Mukhopadhyay said a special team of pediatricians since there is a rise in the number of admissions at present.

Meanwhile, the situation in Cooch Behar district is very grave. According to reports, 133 children are affected in Cooch Behar. Out of them 90 children are admitted at Cooch Behar Medical College & Hospital. Most of the pediatric admissions were made following diagnoses fever, cough, cold and pneumonia in some cases.

The MSVP of the college, Rajibprasad said that as the number of admissions to the hospital increased, the hospital staff is keeping a close watch on the situation.

On an average, the hospital's pediatric ward has provisions to accommodate 60 to 70 patients. Naturally the rise in number count has created panic among the people of the district. The chief medical officer of the district, Sukanta Biswas has already conducted meetings with the superintendents of all the hospitals in the district.

On Thursday he said that children get 'generally affected' by viral fever during this season, every year. "However, the number of admissions is more than the number of beds available which is posing a problem for us. Often we have to accommodate two children in one bed.

On an average around 250 children come to the out patient of Cooch Behar Medical College & Hospital daily. At present the number has increased to 400.