Spike in viral fever cases among kids triggers fear in Bihar

Officials are also looking for a quack who allegedly administered an injection to two children, suffering from fever and abdominal pain, leading to their death at Sirsha village in Amanaur block of Saran district on Monday.

Paediatric wards in major government hospitals of Bihar were full on Wednesday with children admitted with viral infections, said officials monitoring the situation, adding that the health department has directed all medical colleges and hospitals to prepare a line list of viral infection cases at their facilities on a daily basis.

As many as 165 of our 190 beds in paediatrics department are occupied ar PMCH. (HT FIle)

Officials are also looking for a quack who allegedly administered an injection to two children, suffering from fever and abdominal pain, leading to their death at Sirsha village in Amanaur block of Saran district on Monday.

“We have around 50-60 cases of respiratory diseases due to viral infection in the 90-95 children admitted in our paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), which has a capacity of 102 beds,” said Dr Gopal Shankar Sahni, professor and head, department of paediatrics at Sri Krishna Medical College Hospital (SKMCH) in Muzaffarpur.

At the Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH), all 84 beds in the paediatric unit were full on Wednesday. The previous day, 87 children were admitted as against 84 beds available.

“We have an additional 42 beds for paediatric Covid-19 patients in the maternal child health building, where total 106 beds are for Covid-19 patients. We may shift some children there in case of a surge in cases of viral fever. No Covid-19 patient was admitted here in last five days,” said Dr Binod Kumar Singh, professor and head of paediatrics and also NHCH medical superintendent.

Meanwhile, there was an increase of 21% in admission of patients to the paediatric ward through the outdoor patient department (OPD) on Wednesday, as compared to admissions on August 31, said Dr IS Thakur, medical superintendent at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), the oldest medical college in the state.

The PMCH paediatric ward was almost full.

“As many as 165 of our 190 beds in paediatrics department are occupied. The remaining 20-25 beds are reserved for clinical viva voce of MBBS medicos, whose examinations are underway,” Dr Thakur said.

Around 80% beds in the paediatric unit were occupied at AIIMS-Patna, said its professor and head, Dr Lokesh Tiwari. “As many as 42 of the 48 beds in paediatric wards are occupied. However, this is nothing unusual, as 70%-80% bed occupancy is the usual norm at our institute throughout the year. We have all kinds of patients, including four to five of respiratory illness,” said Dr Tiwari.

As many as 24 cases of acute respiratory illness cases were reported at Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH) at Bettiah. “We have 30 beds and are making arrangements for another 39 beds,” said Dr Pramod Tiwari, medical superintendent of the GMCH.

Two similar cases have also been reported in Motihari, said Dr Anjani Kumar, civil surgeon of East Champaran district.

The 76-bed pediatric ward of the Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) was overcrowded with children admitted during last four days with suspected viral infections. A surveillance team has collected samples for testing.

The doctors, however, said there was nothing to worry about, and that the manifestation of viral fever in children was an annual feature. “The onset of viral fever in children has been slightly early this year, but it has nothing to do with Covid-19. It normally begins before the onset of winter. The viral infection is acute bronchiolitis, which is associated with wheezing and cough and in a few cases fever and dengue. The infection is not at all fatal, but the fear of an anticipated third wave of Covid-19 is making parents panic and rush to doctors,” said Dr Nigam Prakash Narain, a retired professor and former head (paediatrics) at the PMCH and former vice-president of National Indian Academy of Paediatricians.

“The infections are of four types — bronchiolitis, which affects children less than two years of age, and is caused either by respiratory syncytial virus or para-influenza virus; flu-like illness, dengue and adenovirus (2-3 weeks of severe cough with vomiting),” added Dr Narain.

First Japanese encephalitis case in 2 years

Meanwhile, the state reported its first case of Japanese Encephalitis (JE), a virus spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes, in last two years. An 11-year-old boy of West Champaran was admitted to the SKMCH on Tuesday for the same. His condition was said to be serious.

(With inputs from Sandeep Bhaskar in Bettiah and Bishnu K Jha in Darbhanga)