COVID-19: TN stresses need for post-mortem in cases of post-vaccination deaths 

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu health department has said that relatives should be motivated to give consent for postmortem in case of death after vaccination.In its guidelines released on August 6 for reporting and managing Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) in Covid-vaccinated people, the health department has said that if a death following vaccination is reported, and the case was not hospitalised or clinical records are not available, postmortem may be conducted with the consent of relatives.

“Postmortems should be conducted to find the pathological cause of death. Samples sent for laboratory tests should be followed up for obtaining results as soon as possible,” it adds.

In case the postmortem consent is refused, the AEFI verbal autopsy form should be used as soon as possible. According to a government order in this regard issued on August 6, shared with Express, the health department has said that AEFI cases must be classified into minor, severe and serious. All these three types of cases must be reported in Cowin by the vaccinator. A minor AEFI can be a pain in the injection site or fever while severe indicates high fever and anaphylaxis, while serious cases are ones leading to death, hospitalisation and significant disability. 

In case of a cluster of AEFI cases, immediate investigation is warranted because of its nature, state the guidelines. “State and district authorities should proactively reach out to all health centres and healthcare service providers such as medical colleges, hospitals, and individual practitioners and sensitise them to report any adverse event following Covid-19 vaccination,” the guidelines add. Doctors must ask and record the history of Covid-19 vaccination when onset of symptoms had occurred after Covid-19 vaccination and report to the District Immunization Officer. 

Call 102/108
In case of serious events, the health staff must inform the medical officer immediately while patients too can call 102 or 108 phone numbers to be admitted at a health facility, says the order