Om Shrivastav, a doctor well ahead of his time, passes away

Dr Om Shrivastav, a well-known infectious disease expert and member of the state Covid-19 task force, passed away at Breach Candy Hospital on Tuesday morning

Dr Om Shrivastav, a well-known infectious disease expert and member of the state Covid-19 task force, passed away at Breach Candy Hospital on Tuesday morning. The 55-year-old had suffered a cardiac arrest on April 27 and had since then been on ventilator.

Om Shrivastav, a doctor well ahead of his time, passes away

Whenever there was a discussion on infectious diseases his name effortlessly came up, Dr Mangala Gomare, executive health officer, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), said.

“I got to know him when I was the epidemiology cell in-charge and when swine flu broke out in the city in 2015. He was attached to Kasturba Hospital [BMC’s only hospital dealing with infectious diseases]. He regularly guided us, and trained the doctors and nurses at the hospital. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he was on the death investigation committee. His inputs were valuable,” she said, adding that she closely worked with Dr Shrivastav during the pandemic.

Dr Vasant Nagwekar, an infectious disease expert and state Covid-19 task force member, said while they were concentrating on the treatment and guidelines, Dr Shrivastav was one of those who focussed on research. “He was ahead of time and had special interest in immunology and molecular field. He was passionate about research and was always updated.”

Dr Shrivastav also played a key role in forming infection control guidelines for some leading hospitals in south Mumbai.

About his contributions to the task force, Dr Nagvekar said he always preferred getting to the depth of the subject. “How diseases could be reversed at the immunological level was his major interest. It is a subject of a haematologist but Dr Shrivastav went beyond him being an infectious disease expert.”

I A Kundan, an IAS officer, who had never met Dr Shrivastav but grew close after she was hospitalised for Covid-19 at Breach Candy in the first wave, said he was a brilliant clinician. “Those were early days of the pandemic. He offered valuable inputs during my treatment.”

Kundan said after her recovery, they remained in touch. “He was a soft-spoken, sharp doctor. He also shared his point of view on how healthcare system could be improved, Covid-19 protocols could be more stabilised etc., which helped us, and was implemented. He was sensitive to the fact that there were shortfalls in the system and improvements could be done. He managed to get them done through whoever he came across.”

Dr Shrivastav was instrumental in setting up the first acute infectious disease management ward in a private set-up at Jaslok Hospital in 2013.

Jitendra Haryan, CEO of Jaslok Hospital, said, “We have lost a great doctor in him. We had two isolation beds near the emergency department earlier and later in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, we set up a proper infectious disease department under him. He was way ahead of his time. He was actively involved in our infection prevention committees during the pandemic. He was intelligent and had a great sense of humour and straightforward. He has left behind a huge void in the medical fraternity.”