JANAKARPURDHAM: A 16-year-old boy from Dhanusha district, Raju Sada, died while undergoing treatment in the isolation ward of Janakpur Provincial Hospital.

Sada of Prasai in Hansapur Municipality-7 had returned home from Ahmedabad, India on May 16 after a week-long journey afoot. Upon arrival, he was sent to a quarantine facility where he stayed for 17 days during which no tests were conducted to determine whether or not he had contracted Covid-19.

Amid widespread reports of mismanagement of quarantine facilities, it has been learnt that during his stay in quarantine, he began having bouts of diarrhoea due to unhygienic food provided in the facility. However, Raju did not get adequate treatment for the same there.

With his health deteriorating, Sada along with two others suffering from various ailments, were sent to the provincial hospital, in a tipper, on June 10, where he was placed in the isolation.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the teen's unfortunate demise, Raju's kin have attributed his death to hospital negligence and lack of proper care.

Pachu, a relative of his, alleged that Raju was not provided with even a packet of Jeevanjal (Oral Rehydration Salts) as his health started to deteriorate further, neither did any doctor visit him for consultation.

However, according to Dr Jamun Singh, chief of isolation ward in the hospital, as many as four doctors had attended to Sada's case after he showed symptoms of encephalitis.

"According to his blood test results, the sodium level in his body was very low, at 117, which is a critical condition," Dr Singh said. "We had started the treatment for encephalitis since Saturday following the preliminary diagnosis."

Dr Singh claimed that Sada had recovered from diarrhoea within two days after his admission to the hospital.

The doctor further added that people may have seizures when they contract encephalitis, depending upon the severity of the illness. "We were awaiting reports to begin his treatment as per procedure which could also requires the patient to be made unconscious. And unfortunately, there were no ventilators available either," said the doctor.

His swab sample was collected while in isolation and after his report came out negative on June 22, he was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit where he died on Wednesday.

Dr Jamun Singh said that the family is undergoing grief and their accusations of negligence are one thing, but the hospital had done its best to treat Raju. "The procedures we carried out for his treatment have not been seen by the family. So they can level accusations at the hospital but it's not true that we didn't treat him."

The deceased's family has demanded fair probe to determine the cause of his death while at the hospital under treatment.