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Feb 15: In a shocker, a 45-days-old infant of Bandipora Thursday died at SKIMS Medical College and Hospital at Bemina while three other babies have also developed drug reaction after they were administered amikacin injection. Junaid son of Mushtaq Ahmad of Shahgund Bandipora was suffering from pneumonia with respiratory distress. He was admitted to the hospital 13 days ago.
To overcome his ailment, the infant was administered amikacin injection in the hospital at 11 am on Wednesday and suddenly experienced its reaction and developed complications. “We were on a routine round. Juniad’s father complained that his son developed complication after he was administered amikacin vile by a nurse on duty.
He was operated upon but died around 2 am on Thursday,” a doctor at paediatric ward 7 told Rising Kashmir. Junaid along with three other babies were also given amikacin vile (used to prevent a wide variety of bacterial infections) with other infants at the hospital’s paediatric ward. They have also witnessed the drug reaction.
“A one day old neonatal from HMT, a five days old baby from Pattan, and another 30 days old baby from Tangmarg have also developed the said drug reaction after they were given the same injection,” reads details accessed by Rising Kashmir from medical superintendent’s office.
According to the doctors, all the three babies needed tracheal intubation and one needed only a few positive pressure breaths. Among the three babies, one infant hailing from Tangmarg Baramulla has been referred to paediatrics ward of SKIMS Soura for mechanical ventilation. The two babies are undergoing treatment at neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of SKIMS Bemina.
“Among the three, two babies were put up on the mechanical ventilator in the paediatric ward and one patient was referred to SKIMS Soura because there was no spare ventilator in our ward,” the doctor said.
Principal SKIMS Medical College Bemina Dr Reyaz A Untoo said they are investigating the incident and have sent samples to a forensic laboratory outside the state for the final report. “He was already ill and was suffering from pneumonia.
The samples have been sent to the forensic laboratory,” he said. However, the hospital’s in-charge medical superintendent, Dr Masood Kirmani said that the amikacin injections are given to infants regularly in the hospital. “Such an incident happened suddenly.
The drugs were given to the patients from hospital supply. I think there is something wrong with the medicine,” he said. “We are ascertaining how the drug caused the reaction among four infants and also how the death of one baby occurred,” Dr Kirmani said adding that such an incident has happened for the first in the hospital (RK)