This year, 19 children in West Bengal, India, passed away from acute respiratory infections, and hundreds of people are still being treated in hospitals as the country battles an adenovirus outbreak.
More than 12,000 adenovirus cases have been reported in the state since January. More than 3,000 kids have been taken to the hospital with severe flu-like symptoms.
The Association of Health Service Physicians issued a warning that there is a possibility that the actual number of cases and fatalities would be significantly greater than reported in official figures.
At than 100 children have reportedly died, according to some local media. The state’s healthcare system is having trouble keeping up. Few hospitals have claimed that their paediatric wards are full, and reports have emerged that children have been forced to share their hospital beds.
Adenoviruses are said to cause eye, stomach and respiratory infections. Health officials stated that two mutated adenovirus strains have led to sickness and death of children.
The virus has also been traced in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. The local government has set up helplines to answer calls from the concerned parents and the leaves of health workers have been cancelled by the Health and Family Welfare Department to deal with the volume of cases.
Instructions have been given to clinics to remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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