Down with two diseases, infant lives, just in time

East of Kailash-resident Kamlesh Sharma, 25, shudders when she recalls her 18-month-old son Aman was on the verge of death two days ago.

East of Kailash-resident Kamlesh Sharma, 25, shudders when she recalls her 18-month-old son Aman was on the verge of death two days ago.

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Aman was brought unconscious to Batra Hospital and Medical Research Centre on Thursday in a state of cardiac failure, a temperature of 106 degrees Fahrenheit.

Aman was diagnosed with both dengue and malaria, and was given immediate blood and platelet transfusion.

He was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at the hospital.

"He had been running fever for 10 days, but I didn't realise it was anything serious. I would give him Crocin and the fever would go down, but when he did not get better after 10 days, I brought him to the hospital. I was shocked when doctors told me my son was dying. Last two days, when he was in the ICU, were terrible, but thankfully he improved and is now out of danger," she said.

Doctors say the mother had been extremely negligent.

"The child could have died even if he were late by an hour. This year, we are seeing an unusual pattern of cross infections. I have seen children with a combination disease of dengue and typhoid, dengue and urinary tract infection and so on," said Dr Sanjeev Bagai, senior paediatrician at Batra Hospital, who is treating 39 cases of twin infections.

Though Aman is out of the intensive care unit, he'll take another week to recover.

"Dengue reduces immunity and exposes people to other infections. Patients need to be extra careful," said Dr Bagai.