Eight infants die in six Madhya Pradesh hospitals

Shahdol: Eight infants, newborn to two-and-a-half-month old, died in the last 12 hours -- six in the government Kushabhau Thakre district hospital and two in Birsinghpur in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, a senior official official of health department said on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath asked health minister Tulsi Silawat to look into the matter. Silawat has ordered a probe into the incident. He sent condolences to the families. Kushabhau Hospital is one of the biggest district hospitals in Jabalpur division.

There has been an angry outburst among the bereaved families since the tragedy. District collector Lalit Kumar Dahima has constituted a committee to investigate the causes. Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Kamleshwar Patel reached Shahdol District Hospital on Tuesday morning after the death of six children. He met the families of the children and expressed condolences to the family and directed the collector to investigate the incident.

The kids in Shahdol who died the intervening night of January 13-14 are mostly tribal. They were admitted to Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of the hospital in serious condition. Four of them were identified as Shyam Narayan Kol, Suraj Baiga, Anjali Baiga and Subhash Baiga, Chauth Kumari and Phoolmati.

The authorities are investigating if there was negligence in treating them on the part of the staff on duty. Preliminary investigations suggested that all six cases in Satna were caused by pneumonia.

Two newborns under the age of one month died after vaccination at Anganwadi centre in Koneita village in Veerasinghpur area of Satna district. Five other children were seriously ill.

Reports said when the kids were taken seriously ill after vaccination they were moved to hospital in Birsinghpur. The post-mortem reports said two deaths had occurred due to clotting of milk in trachea. After the incident on Monday, the District Collector and the police reached the spot and assured the angry families to get the matter inquired.