Sunday, 7 October 2012

8 October, 2012 Clippings


Patient gets Hepatitis C virus during dialysis
The Columbia Asia Referral Hospital in Yeshwanthpur, Bangalore, is facing a probe by the department of health and family welfare over alleged negligence towards a patient undergoing dialysis.
The patient, Beerappa Methre, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer based in Pune, has alleged in his complaint that he got infected with Hepatitis C virus during treatment.
The assistant director of health and family welfare has sent a letter directing the district health officer, Bangalore Urban, to conduct an inquiry and submit a report. Confirming the inquiry, BK Eshwarappa, assistant director, health and family welfare department, said that health minister Aravind Limbavali had directed the department to look into Methre’s complaint.
Methre had come to the hospital in February for dialysis, as he was suffering from a renal problem. Before admitting him, the hospital had referred his blood samples to Reliance Life Sciences, Mumbai for testing. In the results HCV RNA PCR were not detected.
The hospital conducted dialysis for a few months. When he again got his blood tested on August 8 at Ananya Hospital, he was shocked to know that he had tested positive for Hepatitis C virus. “Later I got tested at Religare SRL Diagnostics and Anand Diagnostic Laboratory. Both the tests confirmed presence of Hepatitis C virus. The HCV Viral load was 5,43,000. After coming to know about my health condition, my mother died. I have lost my health and mother. I spent a few lakhs of rupees for the treatment and dialysis. Now I have no money even to pay for dialysis,” Methre told DNA.
08.10.2012
Ailment more deadly than AIDS, cancer: Doctors
Thirty-six people die every hour in India of sepsis, a disease that kills more people than cancer and AIDS put together. Yet it is one of least known diseases not just among the general public but medical professionals as well.
Sepsis is a serious medical condition caused by the body’s response to a bacterial infection and in this state the body is fighting a severe infection that has spread via the bloodstream. It can lead to complications affecting multiple organs and even cause death.
“Sepsis is a serious infection usually caused by bacteria, which can originate in many body parts, such as the lungs, intestines, urinary tract, or skin that make toxins that cause the immune system to attack the body’s own organs and tissues. If not recognised early, body’s response to infection can damage its own tissues. It is sad that though it is one of the leading killers, especially of people with compromised immunity, it is one of the least understood diseases,” said Dr PK Joshi, director of Niramaya Hospital and president of Pune chapter of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine (ISCCM). One of the most common reasons to develop sepsis is hospital-based infections.
“People admitted to healthcare set-ups are already suffering from some infection and hence immuno-compromised. Also we see that antibiotics are rampantly used by doctors and combinations of antibiotics are used even in simple infections. There should hence be a hospital policy on use of antibiotics,” said Dr Ramesh Ranka, owner and chief orthopaedic surgeon at Ranka Hospital.
A common misconception is that sepsis is blood poisoning and usually happens due to open wounds etc. “A patient suffering from a viral infection can develop sepsis and even a cancer patient suffer from secondary infection and develop sepsis,” said Prayag Hospital director Dr Shirish Prayag.
08.10.2012





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