Two more KEM Hospital docs down with dengue

Two more doctors took ill with dengue on November 8, taking the number of cases of doctors from BMC's KEM Hospital and Seth GS Medical College to 10, since October 27.

A resident doctor from the paediatric department, Dr Manan Mehra, and an ex-student of KEM Hospital Dr Tushar Kamble are admitted to the hospital with dengue. "Dr Mehra tested positive for rapid or NS1 antigen test. However he is not critical," said a doctor at the campus.

Another doctor said that Dr Kamble's platelet levels had dipped to 40,000. Platelet count of a healthy person is between 1.5-2 lakhs. "Dr Kamble is preparing for his post graduate common entrance test examinations and frequents the campus for his studies. He has been admitted to the medical intensive care unit," said another doctor.

Doctors complained that Dr Mehra was the fourth resident doctor from the paediatric medicine's ward one to be infected with dengue. "There is a lot of water leakage between ward one and two which may be a possible site of breeding for the dengue-causing aedes aegypti mosquito.

"In order to give them best possible treatment, we admitted the doctors to MICU, but they are all doing well and are stable. The one doctor who is in MICU is likely to be discharged by Sunday," said Dr Parker.

According to the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), the two previous two doctors – Dr Bhushan Jajoo from the surgery department and Dr Suresh Kumar from the radiology department – who were down with dengue, are now doing well.

"Dr Jajoo is undergoing treatment at a private hospital. All the 10 doctors including Dr Vruj Durge, who is admitted in PD Hinduja Hospital, are stable," said a MARD doctor. The MARD representatives are pressing the dean, Dr Shubhangi Parker to ensure that the premises are made scrap free. Scrap and debris at KEM are major breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

KEM Hospital in Parel has emerged as a hotbed for dengue with 23-year-old resident doctor Dr Shruti Khobragade dying of the disease two weeks ago.