Death audit ordered after 7-year-old Covid- positive girl dies in Noida hospital - Hindustan Times
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Death audit ordered after 7-year-old Covid- positive girl dies in Noida hospital

Jun 25, 2022 12:31 AM IST

Dr DK Singh, dean, PGICH, said that the girl was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday night and passed away on Thursday morning. “According to the medical history shared by her parents, she was admitted to a hospital in Delhi earlier this month after she fell ill. Her parents discharged her from the hospital and brought her home on June 15”, he said

A seven-year-old girl from Ghaziabad, who tested positive for Covid-19, succumbed to severe health complications at the Postgraduate Institute of Child Health (PGICH), Noida on Thursday. According to Ghaziabad health department officials, a death audit will be conducted before including the case in the list of Covid-related deaths.

A health worker collects a nasal sample for Covid-19 test at MMG Hospital in Ghaziabad. (Sakib Ali)
A health worker collects a nasal sample for Covid-19 test at MMG Hospital in Ghaziabad. (Sakib Ali)

Dr DK Singh, dean, PGICH, said that the girl was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday night and passed away on Thursday morning. “According to the medical history shared by her parents, she was admitted to a hospital in Delhi earlier this month after she fell ill. Her parents discharged her from the hospital and brought her home on June 15. She presented with extremely low blood count and low levels of haemoglobin when she was brought to PGICH,” he informed. A routine rapid antigen test for Covid-19 was conducted in the emergency ward and she tested positive.

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“The girl’s feet were swollen due to the low blood count. Her condition was extremely critical and she was put on a ventilator. She was given a blood transfusion but could not survive. Her week-long stay at home further deteriorated her condition. The death has been reported to the Gautam Budh Nagar health department,” Dr Singh said. “We did not have enough time to conduct more tests to diagnose or assess her medical condition. However, it seems that she was suffering from a chronic disorder and was severely anaemic,” he added.

“The girl, a resident of Khoda, suffered from different health complications since birth.She tested positive for Covid-19 during the course of treatment. We are in touch with the Gautam Budh Nagar health department but will not include the death in the list of Covid-related fatalities right now,” said Dr Rakesh Gupta, district surveillance officer, Ghaziabad.

“Since the case history of the girl indicates that she had different complications, the primary cause of death might not be Covid-19. We will conduct a death audit with the permission of state officials and take a call thereafter. According to guidelines, the primary cause of death must be Covid in order to term the fatality as Covid-related,” Dr Gupta added.

The district has recorded a total of 473 Covid-related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, with the last death reported on February 6. The positivity rate has risen and stood at more than 1% between June 15 and 24, with 576 cases recorded during the period. The district has recorded 794 cases in total till June 24. A total of 938 cases were reported in May, and 789 cases in April.

“Cases are on the rise but we are taking up comprehensive contact tracing to treat and map all suspected cases at the earliest. As part of the process, we are tracing about 40 contacts per patient, and 18 unique contacts per patient if there are more than one affected members in a family,” Dr Gupta added.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Peeyush Khandelwal writes on a range of issues in western Uttar Pradesh – from crime, to development authorities and from infrastructure to transport. Based in Ghaziabad, he has been a journalist for almost a decade.

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