Adenovirus alarm in West Bengal: 4 more children die in Kolkata, toll climbs to 40 in 9 days

The adenovirus menace in West Bengal seems to be assuming alarming proportions as deaths of four more children, admitted in a Kolkata hospital with its symptoms, were reported in the last six hours, taking the death toll of children to 40 in nine days.

By Sunday morning, the deaths of two children - Atifa Khatun (18 months) and Aarman Gazi (4 years) - were reported from the B.C. Roy Children`s Hospital. However, by 4 p.m., four more child deaths had been reported from the same hospital, taking the number of deaths to six in the day.

Hospital sources confirmed these four deaths of children admitted to the hospital in the period between 10.30 a.m. and 4 p.m. but their identities are yet to be disclosed. All the children reported to have died in the last 13 hours were under treatment with typical adenovirus symptoms like fever, cough and breathing problems and treatment failed to result in any sign of recovery.

Already, the state Health Department has issued an advisory for doctors, especially paediatricians, to take special care of children being admitted with flu-like symptoms, especially children aged two years or below since they are most vulnerable to being affected by Adenovirus.

The common symptoms of adenovirus are flu-like including cold, fever, breathing problems, sore throat, pneumonia, and acute bronchitis.

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The virus can spread through skin contact, by air through coughing and sneezing, and through an infected person`s stools. So far, there are no approved medicines or any specific treatment-line to treat the virus.