Hardly, a day after deaths of seven babies at the Dr B C Roy Institute of Paediatric Science at Beliaghta, on Sunday four more toddlers died of pneumonia-like infections with respiratory distress in two government teaching hospitals since Sunday night raising death toll to 100 unofficially Between January and first week of March.
Three died at the Institute of Paediatric Science while the other at the Medical College Hospital (MCH) respectively.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee who also heads the health department claimed that so far 19 babies have died in the state.
“Adenovirus has claimed life of six babies while the rest 13 had co-morbidities. All the deaths are not caused by adenovirus and there is no need of spreading panic among people,” Mamata said in the state Assembly on Monday.
“The government has taken adequate measures increasing infrastructure facilities like arrangements of 5000 beds in 121 state-run hospitals for treatment of ARIaffected babies,” she said.
A regular spurt in the number of baby deaths has been reported across the state since January though a section of experts in paediatric medicine and public health in the city hope with rise in temperature the virus will be less virulent gradually.
On Sunday, seven babies died at the Institute of Paediatric Science though all of them were undergoing treatment at the acute respiratory infection (ARI) unit at the hospital.
Three babies including an eight month-old from nearby Anandapur, along EM Bypass, and a 45-day-old infant from Gobordanga in North 24-Parganas, died at the paediatric science institute on Monday. All the victims were suffering from fever, cough and breathing trouble.
An eight-month-old baby of Haripal in Hooghly district died at the MCH on Monday. She had been undergoing treatment at the premier teaching hospital since 25 February, according to sources at the MCH.
City paediatricians attending to ailing babies in different hospitals felt that sometimes it becomes difficult to assess symptoms because severity of infections are high mostly in the age of six to 12 months.