Hardly two days before the Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) death reported in the state-run N R S Medical College and Hospital on Monday, a 10-year-old boy also died of the auto-immune disease on Sunday in another government hospital, B C Roy Post Graduate Institute of Paediatric Science (popularly known as B C Roy Memorial Hospital for Children) at Beliaghata in the city.
With today’s death the bacterial disease claimed two lives so far in the state recently.
Today, Debkumar Shau (10), a resident of Jagatdal in North 24-Parganas district, died at the children’s hospital. He was suffering from GBS-like symptoms diarrhoea, breathing problems and muscle cramps and was brought to the hospital a few days ago after his condition deteriorated.
Sources at the children’s hospital said that two other children affected with the same disease are undergoing treatment there at the hospital. Both of them are also from North 24-Parganas district.
The first GBS death in the state was reported on Monday when a Class XII student Aritra Mondal of Aamdanga of the same district died at the N R S Hospital. Family members of the deceased alleged that he died because of negligence in treatment at the government hospital. They have also demanded an inquiry to probe the negligence charges.
Besides the children’s hospital at Beliaghata, two others are also undergoing treatment in the critical care unit (CCU) at the Institute of Child Health (ICH) at Park Circus.
Narayan Swaroop Nigam, principal secretary, health department, has issued a statement urging the people not to get panicked with the GBS disease.
He also said that the disease is not a new one in West Bengal as well as the country. Children below 15 years are vulnerable to get affected with the disease.
Patients can get well following prompt and proper medical treatment in hospitals, said the statement.