West Bengal: Special clinics, helpline to tackle respiratory infection in kids

KOLKATA: The state health department has decided to launch a 24x7 helpline for Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI), which has been affecting a large number of people, especially children, having claimed the lives of at least 10 kids in the past four days.

The department has set up a team of 12 doctors, who have been tasked to receive calls from parents, go through their children's symptoms and then guide them on hospitalisation needs, and if required, which hospitals to go to.
"This 24x7 helpline will be similar to the one set up during the height of the Covid pandemic. Our team of doctors who will work round the clock on rotation will guide parents to the nearest health facility with available beds," said director health services (DHS) Siddhartha Niyogi. The 12 doctors working from Swasthya Bhavan will have a database of all the beds in different hospitals to be able to help out patients.
During the pandemic, a similar helpline, handled by doctors, had come to the rescue of hundreds who required medical attention.
All state-run hospitals across Bengal have also been asked to activate paediatric ARI clinics that will be operational 24x7. Children coming to OPDs with respiratory infection symptoms will be directed to those clinics so that they do not have to waste time waiting at the OPD. All hospitals have also been asked to ensure the presence of a paediatrician in their emergency wings so that any child coming with ARI get proper medical attention immediately.
Health officials said a majority of the deaths in the city were referral cases. The new guideline issued on Tuesday categorically stated no doctor would refer an ARI case without getting an approval from the hospital's medical superintendent and that a patient could be referred to another hospital only after ensuring a bed was available at the destination facility. "Referral cases are causing a huge pressure on Kolkata hospitals. Moreover, the travel from the districts to the city is causing more harm to the children than doing them good. Their conditions are deteriorating by the time they are reaching Kolkata, increasing morbidity and mortality. We have enough trained manpower and infrastructure in district hospitals. Each referral has to be justified and done properly," added the DHS. Many of the parents who lost their children recently apparently had to do rounds of several facilities, as either beds or proper infrastructure were absent.
The health department has asked hospital supers to ensure their ventilators and other equipment were in working condition.