One more child died at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) in the past 24 hours, sources said.
The one-month-three days-old baby had been suffering from pneumonia and multi-organ dysfunction syndrome, it is learnt. The baby boy from East Dhantala in Fulbari on the outskirts of Siliguri had been admitted in the paediatric ward on 27 September.
NBMCH authorities said a total of eight children suffering from fever and acute respiratory infections (ARI) have died there since 1 September. Sources said five children suffering from sepsis, preterm, low birth weight and other diseases died in the last 24 hours.
A five-year-old child of Bihar who had been suffering from hepatic encephalopathy also died due to acute liver failure in the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) today.
Thirteen children suffering from fever and ARI have been admitted in the paediatric ward in the past 24 hours. With this, a total of 68 children diagnosed with the same diseases are currently undergoing treatment in the NBMCH, the sources said.
Altogether 139 children are admitted with different diseases–65 in the paediatric ward, 57 in the sick newborn care unit and 17 in the PICU. The superintendent of the NBMCH, Dr Sanjay Mallik, reviewed the infrastructure of the paediatric ward today.
The bed strength has gone up to 97 from 49 beds there. “We now have 97 beds in the paediatric ward, including 78 beds with oxygen support. Nine each beds in the neonatal intensive care unit and PICU, 31 beds in the SNCU and 10 beds for Covid paediatric,” Dr Mallik said.
As the rise in the number of patients in the paediatric ward has raised concerns, the authorities claimed many children were referred to the NBMCH from other hospitals almost at the terminal stages. Ten children have been
referred to the NBMCH in the past 24 hours–three from Jalpaiguri, three from Malbazaar, one each from Cooch Behar, Birpara, Bidhannagar and Naxalbari, it is learnt.