BENGALURU: A two-and-a-half-month-old girl from
Mandya district died on Friday, a day after she was administered
Pentavalent vaccine.
The child hailed from Soonagahalli village in Mandya taluk.
“On Friday morning, the baby was brought to Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences where she was declared brought dead. The girl was referred to MIMS by a primary health centre. The baby had apparently become inactive. The cause of death is yet to be known,” said doctors from the health and family welfare department in Mandya.
This is the fourth case of a child death after administration of Pentavalent vaccine in the district this year. While the government claimed the deaths of two two-month-old babies in February was not due to Pentavalent vaccine, the forensic report of one of the children, also two-months-old, who died on February 9, is awaited.
Confirming Friday’s incident, Dr Ramachandra Bairy, joint director, immunisation, said the cause of death is yet to be analysed.
“We have learnt that the baby was administered Pentavalent vaccination on Thursday,” he told TOI.
Asked whether the department had taken any measures to stop the usage of the Pentavalent drugs of the batch concerned in the state, he said no such decision has been taken.
“The same batch of drug has been given to many children across the state and no such case has been reported anywhere. We will look into the issue,” he said.
Pentavalent vaccine provides protection to newborns from five life-threatening diseases such as diphtheria, pertussis (whopping cough), tetanus, hepatitis B and influenza B. The vaccine, which contains five different vaccines in a single vial, is part of Universal Immunisation Programme and is administered in three doses to the newborns at 6, 10 and 14 weeks.
Representative Photo
