dna impact: Help pours in for 9-month-old dengue shock syndrome patient

It has been over a month since 9-month-old Priyesh Pathak has been admitted in the paediatric ICU of Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital (KDAH) in Andheri following the infliction of dengue shock syndrome.

After reading the story of the infant, published in dna on January 5 under the headline '8-month-old suffers from dengue shock syndrome', employees of a corporate house informed the newspaper that they've extended some financial help to the kid's distressed family towards their medical expenses. "We were moved to read about the baby's plight. No one deserves to suffer from dengue like this, especially a small baby like this one.

Dengue is an ailment that can affect anyone and we thought that it is a must to extend a helping hand to the parents to help their baby sail through the fight," said the donors, preferring not to disclose their identity.

"Last week, we went and met the parents of the baby. We arranged for Rs45,000 to help towards the treatment of the baby and handed over the cheque to a social worker in the hospital. We are a group of nine... some of us pitched in Rs1,000-Rs3,000 and some contributed up to Rs10,000," one of the donors told dna.

Even as good Samaritans such as these have done their bit to help save the baby, the parents are worried about the mounting medical expenses that is running into lakhs of rupees.

Priyesh has developed brain-swelling due to dengue. "For two days, he was off the ventilator but he has been put on it again as his brain condition termed as 'dengue encephalopathy' has worsened. But we are hopeful that his condition will improve," said Dr Joshi.

Priyesh requires albumin injections worth Rs15,000 every day, apart from other expensive antibiotics. "We have run a bill of almost Rs8.5 lakh in the past month. My husband Rananjay is a rickshaw driver and barely earns Rs7,000 a month. We cannot afford such expensive treatment but we are thankful to those who came up and helped us in our time of distress," said Babita, Priyesh's mother. The Pathaks are residents of Appapada in Malad East.

Bilirubin levels in Priyesh's body are over ten times higher than normal levels. Haemoglobin in the body breaks down to produce bilirubin, which is then processed by the liver. "Because the child's liver function is impaired, levels of bilirubin are shooting up in his body," said Dr Preetha Joshi, paediatrician.

While Priyesh was earlier in a stupor-like condition, he now occasionally opens his eyes and responds to his mother. "He turns in the direction that music is played and also occasionally holds my fingers. He is being fed through a nasal gastric tube for a month now. But I am hopeful that he will recover as he has pulled through for a month," said Babita.

Since August last year, Dr Joshi said, eighteen children have been admitted in KDAH's ICU with dengue. None of these cases was as severe as Priyesh's and all were discharged within two weeks. Even after over a month of hospitalisation, Priyesh's condition remains critical as his liver and brain damage has not yet been completely reversed.

The killer sting
Dengue is a fever that afflicts a patient bitten by aedes aegypti mosquito.
The mosquito breeds in clean stagnant water and in the interiors of homes and offices.
Complications may arise within two-five days due to dengue shock syndrome or internal bleeding.
Symptoms can be continuous high grade fever which does not subside with any medicine, joint pains, severe back ache, reddened appearance, severe pain in right side of abdomen, vomiting.
While up to 70% of children who suffer from a dengue shock syndrome may survive, doctors say only 30% of children who suffer severe liver damage because of this recover.
Since the start of the monsoon last year, BMC has recorded 800 cases of dengue in civic hospitals, of which 19 persons have been reported dead.