Two newborn babies bitten by rats in a neonatal care unit of a state hospital in India’s “cleanest city” Indore died this week.
The babies were admitted to the Maharaja Yashwantrao Chikitsalaya in central Madhya Pradesh state’s Indore city with birth defects.
One of the newborns died on Wednesday afternoon, a day after the death of the girl child who suffered rat bites, according to reports.
One of the babies was found with rat bites on its fingers, the other had bites on its head and shoulder, the hospital’s superintendent, Dr Ashok Yadav, told PTI news agency. One of the infants was brought to the hospital, the largest public health facility in the state, after it was found abandoned in Khargone district, the hospital said.
The doctors at the hospital, however, insisted that the children did not die due to rodent bites but due to congenital complications. Hospital authorities claimed that the baby girl had been suffering from multiple congenital anomalies since birth.
“Seven days earlier, our surgeons had operated on her. She had contracted septicemia and her condition was very critical,” deputy superintendent Jitendra Verma told the Indian Express. “Despite our best efforts, she passed away this afternoon. The cause of death was septicemia.”
He claimed that the child was bitten on her fingertip, which caused “minor abrasion at the tip and nothing serious”.
The babies were moved to another facility and put under round-the-clock supervision and care after surveillance footage revealed rats were roaming around in the ward. Videos from the hospital showed a rat moving from one bed to another and crawling through wires and other equipment.
Two nursing officers were suspended and one nursing superintendent was removed following the deaths. Show cause notices were issued to the nursing officer in charge and the paediatric surgery head, according to reports.
The hospital superintendent earlier told reporters that the authorities would install strong iron nets on windows and asked attendants of patients not to bring food inside the wards. A committee had been formed to investigate the incidents, he added.
The superintendent claimed that the hospital was surrounded by old buildings, which faced rat infestation issues made worse by the monsoon rain. “We will take measures to address the rat menace in the hospital. This is an old hospital, and we have run two rat eradication programmes in the past,” he said. “Rat catchers have also been unable to address the issue. There’s a shortage in the local markets of the glue used to trap rats. We will soon run a pest eradication programme.”
The incident triggered a political row, with opposition lawmakers taking potshots at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for negligence.
“Have mercy on the newborns! Look at the condition of Indore’s MY Hospital,” the Congress party’s Umang Singhar wrote on X in Hindi. “Rats are gnawing on innocent newborns in the NICU and the BJP government has not been able to do pest control for five years!”
The opposition party’s spokesperson, Neelabh Shukla, demanded a judicial inquiry and “strict action against the culprits”.
“The case of rats gnawing on two newborn babies in MYH is not just administrative negligence, but a horrific incident that shakes human sensibilities,” he said.
Indore has been recognised by the federal government as the “cleanest city in the country” for eight years straight, based on surveys as part of a public cleanliness initiative.
Rajendra Shukla, the state’s deputy chief minister, said “immediate action has been taken” against the hospital. “If pest control had been done on time, rats would not be present. A fine of Rs100,000 (£844) has been imposed on the pest control agency and a termination notice issued.”
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