For this six-year-old from Udalguri district in Assam, the Indian army came forward as more than a blessing. Seema Boro, a six-year-old girl from Shantipur village in Udalguri district, had a miraculous escape from infectious encephalitis.
Seema’s parents almost lost hope when their daughter was infected with infectious encephalitis. Seema was taken to a private medical institute in Tezpur. She was later shifted to Gauhati Medical College hospital, but her parents couldn’t meet the expenses.
“We thought it was over. We tried all possible means to get her cured but it was just not happening. We were not financially sound. So, we thought it was destiny to lose her,” said Seema’s father.
Meanwhile, Seema’s parents met captain Nikita Srivastav, medical officer at army’s Red Horn Division’s field hospital situated in Hattigor. Seema went through multiple tests and the reports said that it was a condition where the brain tissues got inflamed or swell up in response to an infection.
“This increases the intra cranial pressure leading to severe symptoms like headache, nausea, vomiting, high grade fever, lethargy, drowsiness, visual disturbances, respiratory disturbances, decreased or loss of consciousness, stiff neck and seizures which may prove life threatening or debilitating if left untreated,” said an army statement describing Seema’s condition.
It was a challenge for Nikita Srivastav to get Seema back to normal. Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Suneet Newton said that Srivastav consulted with a known paediatrician from her hometown Bareilly to take his advice and based on various lab tests, she planned a schedule so that the treatment could be smoothly administered.
The treatment continued for around three months before Seema was discharged from the hospital in 2015.
“She continued to visit the hospital for further check-ups. Seema is now six years old and is leading a normal life. She plays with her friends and is soon about to start going to school,” said Newton.
