Purulia infants` death: Union Health Ministry sending team

New Delhi: Concerned over the death of 13 infants at a government hospital in West Bengal over last few days, the Union Health Ministry is sending a team of experts there to ascertain the facts.

"We are concerned over these deaths and a team of experts will go there to assess the situation," a senior official in the Health Ministry said. Most of the infants, who died in the government hospital in Purulia, were in the age group of 0-11 months. While eight deaths were reported on Friday, three died on Saturday and two on Sunday. Sources said Rakesh Kumar, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry has already spoken to the superintendent of the hospital seeking details of the incident. The superintendent informed him that two infants died due to Anencephaly (a condition that prevents the normal development of the brain and the bones of the skull), one died due to meningitis and 10 others due to other complications such as low birth weight, malnutrition etc, the sources said. The superintendent had said that the hospital is facing difficulties in treating such patients as the neo-natal unit has only ten beds, which needs to be increased as daily 15-20 infants in serious condition are referred to the hospital from the block-level hospitals. PTI