Daltonganj/Ranchi: Even three days after four infants died and five fell ill after they were administered vaccines at Loinga village in Palamu’s Patan block, the district
health officers are clueless about what exactly caused the deaths.
Civil surgeon Dr Kalanand Mishra said: “We have not been able to find a reason during the primary investigation. We are waiting for the report of the detailed investigations to be carried out by the special team from Ranchi.”
Mishra said the syringes used to vaccinate nine children in Loinga village were being sent to a laboratory in Kolkata. “The vials are being sent to Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh. The viscera reports of the four children who died were sent to Rims,” Mishra said on Tuesday.
The incident happened on Sunday, hours after being administered IPV, OPV, measles, Japanese Encephalitis and DPT vaccines. Teams of experts from the
World Health Organisation and the state health directorate visited the village for investigation.
Though district health officers conceded that all antigens and vaccines cannot be completely safe, they claimed the vials from the same batch were used to immunise 13,730 children across the district in March. “A vaccination drive was undertaken at 17 health sub-centres and two PHCs in Patan. There was no report of mishap,” he added.
A primary report has to be submitted to the Union ministry of health and family welfare within 10 days while the final report has to be tabled within 60 days of the incident. “We are waiting for the primary report,” Mishra said.
Ayush Kumar, one of the five children who fell ill after being vaccinated on Saturday, remained in critical condition in the pediatric unit of Rims. Meanwhile, the state commission for protection of child rights took cognisance of the incident and sought a report from the ministry of health, medical education and family welfare within a week.
