Confusion clouds DU student's death

It has been a week since Dhaka University (DU) undergraduate student Afia Jahan Chaity died at the Central Hospital Ltd in Dhaka, yet the cause of death remains clouded in confusion. The first-year zoology student was brought in to the hospital on May 17 morning after a long bout of illness, according to her family. She breathed her last on May 18, and her death certificate says she died of dengue. Since her death, her family has been accusing her doctors of administering wrong treatment. After Afia was admitted on May 17, the doctors ran tests for dengue, pneumonia and acute myeloblastic leukaemia, a type of blood cancer. The result of the dengue test came negative, while the other two were positive. The Dhaka Tribune obtained copies of the test results. Afia's sister Shompa told the Dhaka Tribune: “First the doctors told us that she had cancer. Then they said she had dengue. This created a misunderstanding which lead to the chaos at the hospital.” She then refused to make further comments.

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Dr Muhib Nirob, intern at Chittagong Medical College Hospital, tried to shed some light on the issue via his analysis of the case published on a medical newsletter titled Platform on May 19. In his analysis, Muhib said Afia had died from cancer, not wrong treatment. He said the patient had high fever and pain in her body, which are common symptoms of both dengue and the cancer. Muhib said he had obtained Afia's medical reports, which show that her white blood cell count was 35 times higher than normal, blast cell count was 99% and platelet count was 10 times less than normal. “If the blast cell count is more than 20%, it is a clear symptom of acute myeloblastic leukaemia,” Muhib explained. The analysis also said Afia's reports showed the absence of a protein named NS1 antigen, which is found in blood when a patient has dengue. The Dhaka Tribune asked Dr Muhib Nirob how he drew his conclusion. “My analysis is based on theories of medical science and the reports and description of the entire situation that I received from the patient's neighbour Nayan from her village,” Muhib said over phone. So the question remains as to why Afia's death certificate says she died of dengue.

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Dhaka University students form a human chain on the university campus on May 24, 2017 protesting the death of first-year zoology student Afia Jahan Chaity at Central Hospital Ltd, Dhaka allegedly due to doctors' negligence Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneMeanwhile, DU students released a statement over the incident. Zaber Khan, a fourth-year zoology student read out the statement on Tuesday at the zoology department auditorium. According to the statement, there was several instances of negligence on the hospital authorities' part. When Afia was admitted to the hospital, there was no doctor on duty. She started having respiratory problems around 3pm but was not given oxygen until 4pm. Nurses administered an injection on her without saying what it was. At 7:30pm, a doctor told Afia's sister that she had leukaemia. A female doctor came at 9pm and suggested that they move Afia to a different hospital. But the nurses denied to release her. There was also a delay in the delivery of the test reports. As her condition deteriorated, she was taken to the ICU around 4:45am on May 18. She needed blood, and donors were ready at the hospital by 5:30am, but the hospital collected the blood at 8am. At 8.30am, ICU doctor Dr Yousuf Rashed said half of Afia's brain had been damaged. At 10am, he said Afia was suffering from dengue, not cancer.

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Because of such contradictory information, when Afia died, 150-200 DU students marched to the Central Hospital and vandalised a number of rooms, said Afia's maternal uncle Iqbal Hossain. “They were overcome with the loss of their friend, so they reacted sentimentally and vandalised the hospital,” he added. DU authorities filed a malpractice case with Dhanmondi police against the hospital. “We filed the case for justice, and to stop the students. If we had not, they would have continued vandalism. If we do not stand by our students, who will?” said DU acting proctor Prof Amzad Ali. Meanwhile, DU students staged a protest on the campus on Wednesday, demanding clarification from the Central Hospital. They also demanded apology from a doctor named Farhana Sheema, who allegedly made derogatory comments about Afia. Earlier on Tuesday, doctors around the country staged a strike in protest of the attack on the Central Hospital. Dr Md Ehteshamul Huq Choudhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Medical Association, said: “Doctors should be punished if they made the mistake, otherwise the students should be punished for their act.”

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