Two newborns were bitten by rats at the neonatal intensive care unit at Indore’s premier Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Hospital, the largest hospital in Madhya Pradesh.
Both newborn babies had been admitted to the neonatal ICU with congenital anomalies (health complications existing since birth). They have since been moved to another facility and are under continuous supervision and care, officials said.
Medical Superintendent Dr Ashok Yadav confirmed the incident to The Indian Express. “This incident has come to my notice. Two newborns were bitten on their fingers. The staff should have been alert to the rat issue,” he said.
Yadav also said that measures were being taken to address the issue of rodent infestation, which has plagued the hospital for several years. “We will take measures to address the rat menace in the hospital. This is an old hospital, and we have run two rat eradication programmes in the past,” he said.
Yadav said the hospital is surrounded by old buildings that also have rat infestation problems, and due to the monsoon rain, the rats have begun coming to the hospital, officials said.
“Rat catchers have also been unable to address the issue. There is a shortage in the local markets of the glue used to trap rats. We will soon run a pest eradication programme,” the medical superintendent said.
