Kolkata: An 11-year-old girl who nearly lost her life to typhoid went back home on Friday after a nearly three-month-long battle, including two and a half months of intensive treatment under ventilation. Doctors at Institute of Child Health (ICH) Kolkata said they have never come across such a difficult case of typhoid that affected various organs of the child, causing multi-organ dysfunction.
The story of the girl's battle for life began with a chance meeting of the distraught father, who earns a living selling sattu, with an ICH doctor in a corporate hospital where they rushed the girl on Oct 1. Before that, the girl, with a history of fever, was admitted to BC Roy Memorial Hospital for Children for about six days. As her condition deteriorated, the parents were told to take her to another hospital.
Kamal Dev Shaw, a resident of Phoolbagan, shifted his daughter to Manipal Broadway, from where doctors suggested Manipal Mukundapur, which has better paediatric facilities. On reaching the Mukundapur hospital, the girl, who was gasping, was ventilated. Doctors said that her condition was critical, the treatment would be costly, and the outcome could be bad.
"My wife and I were crying in front of the PICU as we did not have the money for the treatment but were desperate to save our daughter. A doctor asked me why I was crying. When I told him, he said if we trusted him, he could ensure treatment at ICH," Shaw said.
ICH associate professor of paediatrics Prabhas Prasun Giri, who also sees patients at the Mukundapur hospital, spoke to the doctors there as the girl was not admitted under him. After obtaining consent, arrangements were made, and the girl was shifted to the Park Circus hospital that night itself.
"Her BP was unrecordable. The typhoid caused massive damage to many organs, including the heart, brain, kidneys, and lungs. She slipped into a coma due to typhoid-induced encephalitis. Her heart and kidneys were almost failing, with very bad pneumonia," said Giri, paediatric intensivist and in charge of the PICU.
Giri teamed up with other PICU doctors, including Madiha Zainab, Kaushik Maulik, and Agnisekhar Saha, a visiting paediatric intensivist. During two months and 10 days on ventilation, she underwent different procedures, including dialysis.
She also developed paralysis of all limbs. "Giri came to our rescue as a messiah," said Shaw, who has two daughters. The other daughter is mentally disabled.