Central body cautions Bengal govt over deadly adenovirus variant in kids

KOLKATA: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has cautioned the West Bengal health department over the prevalence of a deadly variant of adenovirus among the children in Kolkata and its adjacent districts.The revelation has been made following the recent findings of the ICMR- affiliated National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED)- based on sample testing of persons for adenovirus.

Of the 3,115 individuals tested for adenovirus, a total of 1,257 tested positive and the deadly variant was among 40 individuals, most of whom were children. Confirming the receipt of the alert, a senior official of the state health department said necessary precautions are being taken to tackle any emergency like situation.

Adenovirus has taken an alarming shape in West Bengal at the beginning of the current financial year of 2023. As per the records of the state health department, as many 1,200 cases of adenovirus-positive persons were detected in the period between the end of December 2022 and the end of March 2023, mostly kids, and the total death figure being affected by it during that period stood at 19.

However, at that point of time there had been controversies over the death figure as doctors’ associations had accused the state health department of showing the figure as truncated.

At that point of time, the state government had even set up an eight-member task force to monitor cases of adenovirus-affected people and ensure proper treatment of them.