The second infant who was bitten by a rat at Maharaja Yeshwantrao (MY) Hospital has died, hospital authorities confirmed Wednesday.
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Deputy Superintendent of MY Hospital, Dr. Jitendra Verma, said the “baby girl had been suffering from multiple congenital anomalies since birth”.
“Seven days earlier, our surgeons had operated on her. She had contracted septicemia and her condition was very critical. Despite our best efforts, she passed away this afternoon. The cause of death was septicemia,” Dr. Verma stated.
According to hospital officials, the infant was three days old at the time of admission and weighed only 1.6 kg. Dr. Verma clarified that the rat bite was not the cause of death. “This child was bitten on her fingertip. There was a minor abrasion at the tip and nothing serious,” he said.
The baby’s family declined a postmortem examination, citing their awareness of her critical health condition. They chose to take the body and proceed with the last rites, officials said.
On Tuesday, the first newborn infant had died due to severe congenital complications. Her parents could not be traced and the officials had informed the police to trace their whereabouts.
The two newborns had been admitted to the neonatal ICU with congenital anomalies (health complications existing since birth). After the rats bit their fingers, they were moved to another facility.
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Hospital authorities have suspended two nursing officers and removed a nursing superintendent. Show cause notices were issued to the nursing officer in charge and the paediatric surgery head.
A high-level inquiry committee has also been set up to probe the incident.
Dr Verma stated that instructions have now been passed on to the staff to immediately report sightings of rodents at their hospital premises and actively engage their pest control agency to catch the rodents.
