A seven-year-old boy who was bitten by a cobra outside his school at Pothukunta in Anantapur district on July 17 (Wednesday) was rushed to the Kurnool Government General Hospital from the Anantapur Government General Hospital (GGH) on Saturday afternoon as his condition worsened.
Doctors said Pawan Kumar was shifted to Kurnool GGH as the Anantapur GGH’s paediatric unit lacks dialysis facilities. He continues to be on ventilator for the fourth day.
“The venom of the cobra, a neurotoxin, damaged Pawan Kumar’s nervous system. He suffered multiple organ failure as a result and had to be rushed to Kurnool GGH for dialysis. He was taken in an ambulance equipped with a ventilator,” GGH Resident Medical Officer Lalitha told The Hindu.
The Anantapur GGH also lacks a nephrology department and a private nephrologist had to be called in to check on the boy. The nephrologist advised immediate dialysis after which Pawan Kumar was shifted to Kurnool at 4.30 p.m. While Pawan Kumar’s condition remains critical with his liver and kidney slowly failing, doctors are doing their best to revive the child, the RMO added.
Medical negligence?
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights member V. Gandhi Babu, who visited Anantapur on Saturday, told The Hindu that based on his inquiries into the entire incident and talking to all stakeholders, it was evident that there was gross negligence and delay in providing first-aid and giving the snake antivenom to neutralise the effect of the cobra’s venom, despite the boy clearly telling the school headmaster Eswaraiah.
“The headmaster brought the student on his motorcycle within minutes of the snakebite to the Community Health Centre at Dharmavaram. The snake antivenom was available at the CHC, but the doctor Venkateswara Rao at the CHC chose to give the boy only a saline and waited for some time,” said Mr. Gandhi Babu.
He expressed grief over the initial inaction of the doctors at the CHC and questioned why the child was brought to Government General Hospital in Anantapur only at 4.30 p.m. though the snakebite took place at 1.58 p.m.
Mr. Gandhi Babu also condemned the delay by Sarva Sikha Abhiyaan in building toilets at the school or constructing a boundary wall, both of which were sanctioned last year. Anantapur Child Welfare Committee Chairperson Nallani Rajeswari said that a lack of coordination between various officials led to the delay.