Amid India oxygen scandal, docs want focus on encephalitis
Dozens of children died last week in a decrepit government hospital in northeastern India, prompting public outcry over whether an oxygen shortage was to blame. Answers remain unclear, but doctors who have spent decades treating sick kids in the area say the incident is a symptom of a greater problem: Chronic mismanagement, corruption and outright negligence are worsening encephalitis outbreaks that sicken thousands of children every year.
Thirty-three children died Aug. 10 and 11 at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur, around the time there was a disruption in the oxygen supply. A team of experts sent from New Delhi concluded that the interruption was not responsible for the deaths, but that has failed to quell national fury in India over how the hospital allowed oxygen to run out. Prime Minister Narendra Modi even expressed sympathy to the children’s families this week during his Independence Day speech.
Doctors say they hope the national spotlight will force officials to focus on another hugely neglected problem: encephalitis, which has killed more than 4,000 children and sickened nearly 25,000 since 2010 in Uttar Pradesh, where the hospital is located. Some of the children who died had the brain-swelling condition.
Acute encephalitis syndrome is a catch-all term to describe patients suffering fever, vomiting, headaches and brain function issues such as confusion, trouble speaking and coma along with seizures. The condition can leave surviving children paralyzed and mentally impaired.