Over a month ago, when The Indian Express visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Hospital, Nagpur, a five- year-old boy who was undergoing treatment after consuming the toxic Coldrif cough syrup that claimed lives of 24 children, was making progress in the paediatric general ward. He moved his hands and legs, trying to play, while his mother sat by his bed, hopeful since her son was the only patient who was ‘recovering’. She was accompanied by her husband who was sleeping on the floor. The parents were taking turns to be beside their son.
A month later, on Monday afternoon, the boy was finally discharged from the hospital. His parents will finally be meeting their seven-year-old daughter, who stayed with her grandparents back home.
The boy—from Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara—is now the first and only patient so far who has fully recovered from the toxins. The journey was indeed tough for him, his parents, and the doctors at AIIMS, who monitored his recovery every week.
Talking to The Indian Express, an AIIMS official said, “The boy’s parents took him back home… he has to continue to get adequate nutrition. We have taught him some physical rehabilitation techniques; he will continue to do that. We have called him to follow up and check his progress in the coming days.”
“No special care, just recovering with adequate nutrition in an appropriate environment and physical rehabilitation is needed for complete recovery. The parents have to make sure he eats well and that he gets his vaccine shots as per his age, those things are not to be missed,” added the official.
The boy was first taken to Dr Praveen Soni’s clinic for treatment of cough and fever on August 24. He was prescribed Coldrif cough syrup – which was later found to have contained toxic chemical diethylene glycol.
On August 31, his condition deteriorated and caused a renal failure and subsequent neurological complications, following which he was admitted to a private hospital in Nagpur. As the family’s resources dried up and his father also lost his job, the boy was shifted to AIIMS Nagpur on September 11 and since then his fight for survival continued.
The minor was brought to AIIMS in an extremely critical condition with coma and acute kidney failure. He was admitted to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in a state of deep coma, severe hypotension, multi-organ dysfunction, and near-absent brainstem reflexes. He was immediately placed on mechanical ventilation and underwent emergency dialysis within hours of admission.
Despite appearing in a deep coma, the boy was put on sustained life-support measures. Over time, gradual neurological recovery was observed by the doctors. He later developed severe septicemia with shock, requiring advanced cardiac support, multiple blood transfusions, prolonged antibiotic therapy, and a tracheostomy for long-term ventilatory support.
After nearly three months of continuous intensive critical care, the minor was successfully weaned off ventilatory support and shifted to a high-dependency unit. With ongoing nutritional, physical, and neurological rehabilitation, he gradually regained speech and responsiveness and began interacting with his parents and doctors.
When The Indian Express had reached out to the doctors earlier this month regarding Kthe boy’s progress, the officials had then informed that vision assessment revealed optic nerve damage with severe visual impairment. Following timely ophthalmological intervention and immunosuppressive therapy, the boy has shown partial recovery with perception of light.
“We have given him some medicine hoping that his vision will come back. He has some slight improvement in vision, but he still cannot see. He can only perceive that somebody is there. He can identify if it is night or day other than that, he is not able to identify specifically by vision alone. We are going to watch him over for this. We cannot do anything else in terms of medication now,” said the AIIMS official.
Commenting on the case, Dr Prashant P Joshi, Executive Director, AIIMS Nagpur, said, “This case reflects the extraordinary commitment, clinical excellence, and perseverance of our paediatric and critical care teams. The decision to continue intensive support despite extremely poor initial prognosis demonstrates the values of AIIMS, where every life matters. I commend the Department of Pediatrics, PICU team, nursing staff, and AIIMS Nagpur administration for their coordinated efforts in achieving this remarkable outcome.”
While the boy has been discharged and his parents have taken him home, a four-year-old boy from Tikabarri in Betul’s Amla is the only patient currently admitted at AIIMS Nagpur, receiving treatment for the cough syrup poisoning. Officials said his recovery is slow and he seldom responds to the treatment and still remains critical. While talking to the Indian Express last month, his mother had firmly stated, ‘Ab bete ko thik karke hi leke jaungi’ (I will go back, only after my son is cured).
All treatment charges for the minor boy from MP were waived off by AIIMS Nagpur. The case was managed by Dr Meenakshi Girish, Department of Paediatrics, with intensive critical care support in the PICU led by Dr Abhijeet Chaudhary, PICU in-charge, along with Dr Abhishek Madhura and the entire pediatrics team.
A coordinated multidisciplinary approach involving paediatric intensivists, pediatric neurologists, nephrologists, ophthalmologists, nursing staff, and rehabilitation teams was followed throughout the prolonged course of treatment.
The case was closely supported at the administrative level by Medical Superintendent Dr Nilesh Nagdeve and Joint Medical Superintendent Dr Nitin Marathe .