The Adverse Effects Following Immunisation (AEFI) committee at Ratnagiri, constituted by the state health department, will analyse the death of an eight-month-old baby girl who had received oral polio vaccine (OPV) drops in Nandgaon village on Sunday. The health department has also asked officials concerned to send a sample of the batch of polio vaccine administered to the baby for testing and analysis.
The eight-month-old baby girl who had received OPV drops at an immunisation booth at Nandgaon village in Ratnagiri district on Sunday around 11.30 am, developed convulsions around 5.30 pm and died at a private hospital at 8 pm, health officials said.
L S Sale, district health officer, Ratnagiri, said, “The baby girl was administered OPV at an immunisation booth set up at village Nandgaon at 11.30 am on Sunday. The family took the baby and her sisters back home. At around 5.30 pm, the baby developed symptoms following which she was rushed to a private hospital in Kervan, where she died at 8 pm.”
“The baby had a history of fall. We are suspecting that an internal head injury might have caused convulsions in the baby,” Sale said, adding, “All the other children who were vaccinated in Nandgaon are fine. Each vial of polio vaccine contains 15 to 18 doses. The other babies who received drops from the same vial are fine.”
The authorities are trying to say it is a coincidence, like they do with all vaccine deaths.
Source: Times of India, 21st February 2012. Infant dies day after DPT vaccination
A two-month-old infant died a day after vaccination on Thursday at Shakaran village in Vargal mandal of Medak district. This is the fifth incident of a child dying after being vaccinated this year. However, district health officials refused to link the death to the vaccine.
Dr C. Ranga Reddy, district medical and health officer of Medak district, said that on Wednesday the infant, Kumari Keerthana, had been administered a DPT vaccine and the child had died at 3 am on Thursday. “The cause of death is being investigated. We don’t think that the death is related to vaccines because 10 children were administered vaccines from the same vial and nine of them are doing fine. So, there was no problem with the vaccines or their storage. Mild fever is also common in children post administration of vaccines. Investigation is on and we suspect that the child might have had some prior illness,” said the DMHO.
In January, around 60 lakh children in AP were administered polio drops and four deaths had been reported from West Godavari, Krishna, Nalgonda and Chittoor districts. However, according to reports of the Medical and Health Department, investigation had revealed that the deaths were due to pre-existing ailments and one due to asphyxia and not connected to the polio drops. Health Department doctors had also advised against taking children for vaccination if the child had problems like fever and diarrhoea. Doctors insist that parents wait for a day or two for the child to get well and then take him/her for immunisation to prevent complication.
Source: Deccan Chronicle, 17th April 2011.
Vaccine deaths on the rise in last three years
The number of children who have died after being administered vaccine shots has jumped suddenly in the last three years, according to Central government records.
However, none of the deaths have been attributed to vaccines directly. Even though the number of deaths was quite low in the first seven years of the last decade, the spike came in the last three years, when 355 kids died due to adverse events following immunisation (AEFI)—the technical parlance for vaccine deaths.
According to the government’s own records—available with Deccan Herald —as many as 111 children died in 2008, followed by 116 deaths in 2009 and 128 deaths in 2010.
The cause of as many as 72 deaths, out of the 128 deaths in 2010, remain unknown while in 48 cases, it is “coincidental”. In four cases, the culprit was vaccine reaction and in remaining four the cause of death is either injection reaction or programme error.
In comparison, there were only 146 vaccine deaths between 2001 and 2007 and the highest number of deaths—54— were reported in 2006.
AEFI surveillance
While Health ministry officials could not pinpoint the reasons, public health experts agree that India’s AEFI surveillance system deserves to be improved much more.
The AEFI monitoring function is deficient in the national surveillance authority, which needs to pull up its socks to set up a strong surveillance mechanism both for the universal immunisation programme as well as for shots administered by private doctors, said the draft National Vaccine Policy.
The National Vaccine Policy is prepared by an expert panel headed by former director general of Indian Council of Medical Research N K Ganguly.
Responding to a Right to Information application, the ministry said it cannot provide the inquiry reports of AEFI deaths due to measles vaccination in Chennai in 2008 and Madhya Pradesh and Lucknow in 2010 because some of the matters are sub judice and the Lucknow report is yet to be completed.
The final inquiry report on Madhya Pradesh is also not available.
Full immunisation coverage of children (12-23 months) stood at 54.1 per cent in 2007-08, indicating that almost half of the children do not receive the full immunisation coverage. The drop out rates are very high.
Also, 11.3 per cent children were found to have no immunisation, sources said.
Source:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/164831/vaccine-deaths-rise-last-three.html
Baby Dies 8 Months After BCG Vaccine
Baby dies eight months after BCG injection
Baby dies after BCG vaccination
Eight-month-old Chinese baby Little Rui Rui has died, months after he received a Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) injection.
Apple Daily reported that on Oct 26 last year, little Ruirui received the vaccination – which was supposed to have protected the child against tuberculosis – at a hospital in Zhejiang province, China.
However, a month after the injection, his lymph nodes started to swell.
Just weeks ago, Ruirui’s life was hanging by a thread. His muscle atrophied, making his ribs clearly visible in his thin body. His skin was also wrinkled and peeling.
According to Chinese media reports, Health department representatives explain that what happened to Little Ruirui is due to an immune system defect, and that the probability for something similar happening due to the vaccine for normal children is very rare.
Source: AsiaOne Health, 26th May 2011.
Before Vaccination
After Vaccination
Two Babies Die Minutes After Vaccination at the Same Clinic
A Cape Flats community is shocked and enraged after the sudden mysterious death of two infants.
Manenberg residents say the three-month-old babies died within a few hours of each other after receiving their routine vaccination injections at the local clinic.
Hajiera Liewenberg, 23, who was with mom Nikita Le Grange, 20, at the Manenberg Day Clinic on Wednesday, says 14-week-old baby Tyler died in his sleep.
“When she brought him for his three-month shot this morning, he was fine.
“Then he fell asleep here at the hospital and when she went home, she put him to bed,” Hajiera explains.
“When she went to check on him, she saw that his face was blue and then her aunt rushed back to hospital with Tyler.”
Hajiera says doctors tried to save the infant but it was already too late.
Tyler’s godmother, Natasha Payne, says she arrived at the clinic after hearing about Tyler’s death and moments later a second mother rushed in with her five-month-old child.
“We were sitting in the waiting room and I saw the (second) mother leave. Then minutes later, the same woman rushed back after her child also turned blue,” says Natasha.
As news of the two deaths quickly spread through the community, other mothers and grandmothers had growing concerns about the safety of their own little ones.
Late on Wednesday afternoon, scores of concerned and angry residents gathered outside the Manenberg clinic demanding answers.
Resident Lillian Pearce says she’s concerned about her six- week-old grandchild who’s due for his injection today.
“My grandson is a few weeks old and he’s due for his injection but what are we supposed to do now?” she says.
“No one is telling us anything and we can’t trust that the same’s not going to happen again.”
It’s still not clear what caused the infants’ deaths, but police spokesman November Filander says:”I can confirm two kids passed away, a boy and a girl. The causes of their death is still not known but police have opened up an inquest docket at Manenberg Police Station.” – Daily Voice
Source:iol news, 2nd June 2011.
Baby Tyler who died after vaccination, pictured with his mum.
Newborn Dies after Being Given Polio Drops
A newborn on Wednesday died allegedly after being administered anti-polio vaccine in Lahore, Geo News reported.
One Abdul Khaliq of Baghbanpura road said that vaccinator Saad, Zonal Supervisor Jaffar and lady health workers Rozi and Rubina administered anti-polio drops to his 15-day-old daughter Habiba at 10:00 am today morning. She died within minutes after getting anti-polio drops, he alleged.
Meanwhile, EDO Health has suspended four health officials including two women, and initiated inquiry into the incident.
Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=17068
Vaccine Withdrawn After One Year Old Dies
THE vaccine which was given to an infant prior to his suspicious death in Mocho, Clarendon this week has been withdrawn from health clinics across the island, pending further investigation.
The one-year-old child was given the vaccine at a health clinic in the parish the day before he was found dead by family members, but Director of Family Health Services in the Ministry of Health and Environment Dr Karen Lewis-Bell, believes only a post-mortem could show the real cause of death.
“In the morning the child had visited the health centre and received a vaccine, so we have no evidence to say that it is the vaccine that has caused the death of this child,” said Dr Lewis-Bell, who declined to name the vaccine.
“However, under normal circumstances, if such a situation happens we have to do a thorough investigation. Part of our investigation involves putting a hold on the use of that vaccine while we continue our investigations and get some information as to the cause of death,” she told the Observer yesterday.
“We have to be very careful that we don’t make certain assumptions without us having any proofs and so I don’t want to discredit our immunisation programme or any of the vaccines without any proof,” she said.
The Ministry of Health has since launched an investigation into the child’s death and is now awaiting the result of a post-mortem. All the other children who were given the same vital vaccine at the Clarendon-based health centre have since been checked and have all been found to be in good health.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Vaccine-withdrawn-pending-probe-into-child-s-death_9026592#ixzz1Q2UBi1v8
VAN UK’s Comment: As the child was already a year old they can’t blame this one on ‘SIDS’.
Child dies after vaccination, doctors face action
Action has been recommended against a deputy chief medical officer and another doctor after an infant died and two others took ill following administration of measles vaccine in Uttar Pradesh, an official said Friday.
While nine-month-old Shivansh died Thursday at the Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Medical University (CSMMU) here, two other children – Lallu and Sadhu – are being treated for post-vaccination complication.
They were Wednesday administered measles vaccine under routine immunisation campaign in Awadhpur village in Barabanki, 30 km from Lucknow. On Thursday, they were admitted to the CSMMU.
“It appears prescribed norms were not followed while administering the vaccine,” Burbank Chief Medical Officer A.K. Chaudhary told reporters.
“The measles vaccine should have been utilised within four hours after dissolution but it was kept open for more than eight hours,” he added.
“We have suspended an ANM (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) involved in the vaccination. Action has been recommended against doctor Arvind Yadav and Deputy Chief Medical Officer Ram Chandani for not supervising the vaccination,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shivansh’s father has lodged a First Information Report (FIR) in Barabanki against Yadav and the nurse in connection with his son’s death.
Source: Deccan Herald, 22nd July 2011.
Newborn Dies after Polio Drops
A newborn on Wednesday died allegedly after being administered anti-polio vaccine in Lahore, Geo News reported.
One Abdul Khaliq of Baghbanpura road said that vaccinator Saad, Zonal Supervisor Jaffar and lady health workers Rozi and Rubina administered anti-polio drops to his 15-day-old daughter Habiba at 10:00 am today morning. She died within minutes after getting anti-polio drops, he alleged.
Meanwhile, EDO Health has suspended four health officials including two women, and initiated inquiry into the incident.
Source: http://www.geo.tv/6-15-2011/82516.htm
Infant Dies after Measles Vaccination
An infant died allegedly after being vaccinated against measles in Malihabad area, officials said here today. 20-day-old Anju was administered the vaccine at Maliahabad community health centre on Saturday, they said. After vaccination, the child died at her home in the evening. Health department officials, including Chief Medical Officer Ashok Mishra, visited the village and the health centre and conducted a primary inspection, they said. An FIR was lodged and post mortem of the baby carried out.
Source: IBN Live, 22nd August 2011.
Infant Dies after Vaccination
The Junagadh district health officials have launched an inquiry into the death of a two-month-old baby girl who died after being vaccinated on Mamta Day on Wednesday in Sadesar village in Una taluka of Junagadh.
Infant Asha Bambhaniya was vaccinated for hepatitis-B and DPT and died within 15 minutes. On learning of this, health officials stopped the vaccination and put under observation four children given the same vaccination.
Chief district health officer, Junagadh, Dr D K Dabhi said, “The child died after parents took her at their home, but they returned and told about it. So, we soon stopped the vaccination as part of preventive measures. But four other kids who were given the same vaccination were put under observation and all of them are fine. So, there may be some other problem.”
Health officials said that in order to ascertain the exact cause of death, the child’s body was sent to medical college in Jamnagar for forensic postmortem. “We have also sent the samples of the vaccine for laboratory test. After both reports arrives, we will be able to know the exact cause of death,” health officials said.
Health officials also said that the child was suffering from cardiac related problem and the parents were advised to consult doctors in Ahmedabad recently.
Source: Times of India, 30th September 2011.
Infant Dies 15 Minutes after Vaccination
The Junagarh district health officials have launched an inquiry into the death of a two-month-old baby girl who died after being vaccinated on Mamta Day on Wednesday in Sadesar village in Una taluka of Junagadh.
Infant Asha Bambhaniya was vaccinated for hepatitis-B and DPT and died within 15 minutes. On learning of this, health officials stopped the vaccination and put under observation four children given the same vaccination.
Chief district health officer, Junagadh, Dr D K Dabhi said, “The child died after parents took her at their home, but they returned and told about it. So, we soon stopped the vaccination as part of preventive measures. But four other kids who were given the same vaccination were put under observation and all of them are fine. So, there may be some other problem.”
Source: The Times of India, 30th September 2011.
Panic in Chennai as child dies after polio vaccination
Panic spread in the state following the death of a two-year-old child hours after he was given polio vaccine near Chennai on Sunday. But doctors have reassured parents that the death wasn’t related to the vaccine.
The child, A Joshua, was administered the oral vaccine at 8.30am at an anganwadi centre in Padapai on Sunday as part of the pulse polio programme. He died at his house two hours later. His mother A Dhanalakshmi, 20, alleged that the child died due to the vaccine. As the news spread, many other children, who received the vaccine from the same centre, were rushed to a nearby government hospital in Chrompet, where doctors assured the parents that the vaccine was safe.
Source: Times of India, 24th January 2011.
2 Month old Baby Killed By Pentavalent Vaccine in Kerala
A 58-day-old baby born to Sabeer and Shajitha of Vithura was given the pentavalent vaccine at the Vithura Community Centre on Wednesday morning. The parents claimed that the infant developed fever in the night and was rushed to the hospital. The doctors said that it was a normal fever. But on Thursday, the baby was found unconscious and was rushed to the hospital where it was declared dead.
Source: Times of India, 17th December 2011. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com//articleshow/11138247.cms?intenttarget=no
The Adverse Effects Following Immunisation (AEFI) committee at Ratnagiri, constituted by the state health department, will analyse the death of an eight-month-old baby girl who had received oral polio vaccine (OPV) drops in Nandgaon village on Sunday. The health department has also asked officials concerned to send a sample of the batch of polio vaccine administered to the baby for testing and analysis.
The eight-month-old baby girl who had received OPV drops at an immunisation booth at Nandgaon village in Ratnagiri district on Sunday around 11.30 am, developed convulsions around 5.30 pm and died at a private hospital at 8 pm, health officials said.
L S Sale, district health officer, Ratnagiri, said, “The baby girl was administered OPV at an immunisation booth set up at village Nandgaon at 11.30 am on Sunday. The family took the baby and her sisters back home. At around 5.30 pm, the baby developed symptoms following which she was rushed to a private hospital in Kervan, where she died at 8 pm.”
“The baby had a history of fall. We are suspecting that an internal head injury might have caused convulsions in the baby,” Sale said, adding, “All the other children who were vaccinated in Nandgaon are fine. Each vial of polio vaccine contains 15 to 18 doses. The other babies who received drops from the same vial are fine.”
The authorities are trying to say it is a coincidence, like they do with all vaccine deaths.
Source: Times of India, 21st February 2012.
Vaccines Put on Hold after Infant Dies
The UT Health Dept has directed all its dispensaries as well as the PGI, GMSH-16 and GMCH-32 to immediately stop DTP immunization in the city and withhold the stock of the vaccine, Batch No 994. The decision was taken following the death of a six-week-old infant. The child, Arnav, died on February 8, a few hours after he was given the DPT Vaccine at the Ramdarbar ESI Dispensary. Investigations are on to determine whether the vaccine caused his death.
The vaccine administered to Arnav belonged to a large quantity of vaccine purchased on May 27, 2011. Two children were adversely affected by the vaccine. One was Arnav, who died and the second is Radhav, who developed seizures after being vaccinated.
Source: http://www.dayandnightnews.com/2012/02/dpt-vaccinations-put-on-hold/
