INDIA. Mumbai: In a shocking incident, a 24-year-old patient admitted to the BMC’s Rajawadi Hospital, located at Ghatkopar in North East Mumbai was bitten by a rat near his eye, his relative alleged on Tuesday, even as Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar ordered an inquiry into the incident.
The patient Srinivas Yallapa was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital due to a respiratory ailment, two days back. He was suffering from brain fever and also had a liver disorder. On Tuesday his relatives spotted blood around his eyelids. When they checked, they noticed that the portion near the eyelid was nibbled.
Since the patient was on a ventilator, he apparently could not notice the injury. The hospital officials confirmed the incident but said injuries were ‘superficial’ and the patient’s eye was not affected.
The ward where Yallappa was admitted is on the ground floor. The rat might have sneaked into when its door was opened, the hospital sources said. Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar visited the hospital soon after the news broke out and reviewed the situation. She ordered the inquiry into the incident.
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Dr. Vidya Thakur, dean, Rajawadi Hospital, said, “Such an incident should not have happened. The injuries of the patient are superficial, still, the incident could have been avoided. There is no threat to the eye, but injuries are being treated at our hospital. The ward where the incident took place, is on the ground floor. Some people dump garbage on hospital premises despite being told not to do so. It could have attracted rodents there. We have taken some rodent repellent measures. We will take extra care to avoid such incidents,” she added.
Such shocking incidents in BMC’s peripheral hospitals have continued to occu. In October 2017 a woman patient Pramila Nehrulkar admitted to Bhagwati Hospital at Borivali in north Mumbai was attacked by rats when she was asleep.
