Increase in fever in children is not a cause for concern: WB Health Secretary

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee chaired a high-profile meeting with senior officials and doctors from five medical colleges and hospitals. After the meeting, Health Secretary NS Nigam said, “These cases of infection are nothing to worry about. The virus, ‘respiratory syncytial’, is found to cause fever in children.” He also said that three children who died of fever in Jalpaiguri had other ailments, due to which they died.

Meanwhile, all but one of the children admitted to hospitals with fever tested positive for COVID-19.

A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) will soon be issued by the Health Department regarding the treatment of the virus.

State Deputy Health Secretary Dr Ajay Chakraborty said, “Such respiratory ailments are not uncommon among them at this time of the year.”

This time the number of cases is not as much as it was in previous years. A total of 1,195 children have been admitted to Jalpaiguri District Hospital between September 1 and 15.

“Two of them died – one due to congenital heart disease and pneumonia and the other had asphyxiation at birth,” he explained. Drawing a parallel, Chakraborty said an average of 2,000 such admissions are usually recorded around this time of the year.

In 2017, six deaths were recorded due to various infections including one induced by RSV and a year later, four deaths were recorded, he said. Last year, total admissions in hospitals had seen a decline due to the COVID-19 situation, the deputy health secretary underlined.

The Health Department has recently constituted a committee of experts to find out the cause of fever in hundreds of children in Jalpaiguri and its surrounding areas.

(with inputs from agencies)