2nd baby dies after rat bite at Indore hospital; doctors claim blood infection as cause of death

Indore: A second newborn girl, bitten by a rat at the government-run Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital (MYH) here, has died, with the administration claiming the cause of death as blood infection and not the rat bite.

The baby died on Wednesday following which the body was handed over to the family without post-mortem as per the wish of her relatives, a senior hospital official said.

Earlier, another newborn bitten by rat died at the hospital on Tuesday.

Amid the uproar over the death of two newborn girls after alleged rat attack, the decision not to conduct an autopsy raised questions.

So far, action has been taken against nearly half-a-dozen staffers of the hospital, affiliated to the Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College in Indore, and a show cause notice issued to the paediatric surgery department's head for alleged negligence, officials said.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav told reporters here that he had spoken to the health minister, principal secretary of the health department and Indore District Magistrate, and directed them to take appropriate action.

The government will not tolerate any kind of negligence in the field of public health and medicine, he warned.

MYH Deputy Superintendent Dr Jitendra Verma said the newborn girl, who had been recently attacked by rats and died during treatment on Wednesday, weighed only 1.60 kg and suffered from various congenital deformities, including intestinal deformity.

She was operated upon at MYH seven days ago, and her condition was critical due to 'septicemia', or blood infection, which claimed her life, he said.

As per her family's wish, the body was handed over to them without conducting autopsy, the doctor added.

The girl had been bitten by rats on two fingers of her left hand, causing mild scratches, Dr Verma said.

District Magistrate Ashish Singh visited the nearly 75-year-old hospital, which is among the largest government medical facilities in the state.

In view of the rat problem, there will be a third party audit of the hospital and further steps will be taken on the basis of its report, Singh said.

On Tuesday, another newborn girl who was a victim of rat attack died at MYH. An autopsy was conducted her in case.

Officials said both the girls were admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the department related to surgery of newborns, and suffered from different congenital deformities.

Before the post-mortem report came in of the newborn girl who died on Tuesday, the college's Dean, Dr Arvind Ghanghoria, said doctors treating her prima facie felt she died due to pneumonia.

However, MYH Superintendent Dr Ashok Yadav on Wednesday said, "The post-mortem report revealed heart vessel problems, septicemia and infection. All these problems were present in her before she was bitten by rats."

"Both the newborn girls were suffering from different congenital deformities and their condition was already critical. The deaths of these girls during treatment should not be linked to rat bites, because it is generally observed that no human being dies due to rat bites," Dr Yadav added.

Following an initial investigation into the rat bite incidents, two nursing officers were suspended on Tuesday and the hospital's nursing superintendent was removed from the post, officials said.

Another MYH official said Dr Brajesh Lahoti, head of the paediatric surgery department, was issued a show cause notice on Wednesday for allegedly committing gross negligence in the discharge of his duties.

An assistant superintendent-cum-building in-charge and an in-charge nursing officer of the MYH were suspended, he said.

A warning letter was also issued to a private contractor firm associated with MYH and a fine of Rs 1 lakh was imposed on it. The firm is paid Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore per month for providing personnel for cleaning, security, pest control and data entry, Dr Yadav said.

Asked about the rationale behind paying such a huge amount of government money to the company and allegations of corruption, the MYH superintendent assured, "We will get a detailed audit done by a third party to check whether this firm has done its work properly. If any irregularity is found, its contract will be cancelled.'' Meanwhile, Amulya Nidhi, associated with the NGO 'Jan Swasthya Abhiyan Madhya Pradesh', said the organisation has written to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, demanding an independent inquiry into the death of the two girls.

There was gross negligence in maintenance of hygiene and ensuring safety of the newborns' ICU in MYH, leading to rats biting the two girls and causing their death, he alleged.