16-year-old Mumbai boy with severe TB and HIV dies after delay in treatment

Before being admitted at the TB hospital in Sewri, the boy was turned down for four days by almost all tertiary care public hospitals of Mumbai and Thane due to unavailability of ICU beds to treat TB patients.

mumbai Updated: Mar 22, 2019 12:37 IST
Doctors from Group of TB Hospitals, where the Thane teenager, an orphan, was admitted on March 8, said he never fully recovered from the comatose stage since the time of his admission. (Getty Images )

A 16-year-old, diagnosed with extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) meningitis along with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), whose treatment was delayed because of lack of a neurologist and intensive care unit (ICU) beds at the Group of TB Hospitals, Sewri, died on Wednesday after struggling for life for 13 days.

Doctors from Group of TB Hospitals, where the Thane teenager, an orphan, was admitted on March 8, said he never fully recovered from the comatose stage since the time of his admission. But before being admitted at the hospital, the boy was turned down for four days by almost all tertiary care public hospitals of Mumbai and Thane due to unavailability of ICU beds to treat TB patients.

Ganesh Acharya, TB and HIV activist, who helped the child get admitted, said, “We need at least 50 dedicated ICU beds for TB patients but the government is planning to introduce 10 at Sewri TB Hospital, which will fall short when it comes to saving lives.”

The Sewri hospital, due to lack of a permanent neurologist, took opinions of senior doctors from KEM, Parel and BYL Nair hospitals, for his treatment. “Apart from slight finger movements, he remained comatose during the period of his admission... the TB meningitis had caused coning (swelling in the brain causing compression of lower brainstem), often fatal for 10-15 days despite treatment. His immunity was hampered severely due to HIV,” said Dr Lalit Anande, medical superintendent at the hospital.

First Published: Mar 22, 2019 12:37 IST