Rare dengue-linked syndrome claims 34-year-old Bank of America MD

Mumbai: Sanjeev Jha, the 34-year-old India head of the global capital markets of Bank of America, succumbed on Tuesday to a rare disorder of the immune system seemingly triggered by the dengue shock syndrome at Lilavati Hospital.

 

His friends and family, however, expressed concerns that transfusion of platelets could have brought on the condition hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), rarely linked to dengue.

 

His family friends said Jha was admitted to the Bandra hospital on August 29 after feeling ill for a few days. A suspicion about his dengue fever turning into something serious arose on the sixth day when his triglycerides, LDH (tests to diagnose cell damage) and ferritin levels started going awry. The following day, he was diagnosed with HLH, a condition where white blood cells abnormally build up in the liver, spleen and start attacking the other blood cells.

 

Jha was admitted under Dr C C Nair, an internal medicine specialist,on Thursday: “Jha had a severe form of dengue with complications and multi-organ involvement. His kidneys and liver too were affected, requiring many specialists to take care of him.” A family friend, however, alleged, that the complications began soon after he was transfused with platelets. “His family is traumatized and has met the hospital doctors several times to understand the situation,” said Nair. The family has approached the hospital management with a verbal complaint of negligence. The hospital declined to comment at this point. 

 

Haematologist Dr A Bhave said Jha, who lived in Bandra, was given a single dose of platelet transfusion because his count had dropped to18,000. “More importantly, he started passing blood in his urine. As we didn’t want more bleeding complications, we decided to give him platelets,” he added.

 

Infectious disease consultant Dr Vasant Nagvekar, whose opinion was sought in the case, said the association of severe HLH with dengue is rare but not unheard of. “It damages the immune system, leaving the patient highly vulnerable. Dengue shock syndrome, in itself, is a severe form of the viral fever,” he said, adding that Jha’s condition was confirmed on the seventh day and addressed by the haematologist. “The case teaches us that when in a confirmed case of dengue the fever doesn’t subside after seven days, we must think of HLH. There are more cases in the city where dengue has led to HLH,” he said.