Three officials have been suspended after a ten-day-old baby boy died in the intensive care unit of government hospital in Andhra Pradesh after being bitten by rats.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock over the incident and has ordered a high level probe seeking a report within 48 hours. The CM has warned officials that such an incident should not repeat.
The 10-year-old was admitted four days prior to the incident to the Guntur General Hospital for treatment.
Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Dr K Srinivas had sought a report from the hospital in this regard and an inquiry has also been ordered into the incident, Hospital Superintendent Dr Venugopal said.
The boy was born to a woman named Laxmi on August 17 at the Vijayawada General Hospital. He was shifted to the hospital for a surgery after developing some health complications, and afterwards placed in the ICU, he said.
His mother noticed that the boy’s right hand fingers had been bitten by rats. He died during the treatment, said the superintendent.
Meanwhile, Social Welfare Minister Ravela Kishore Babu pulled up superintendent of the hospital over the incident and ordered action against those responsible for it, stated a release issued by the minister’s PRO. The minister directed that steps be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur, it added.