India News: 79 schoolchildren ill after vaccinations
http://www.keralanext.com/news/?id=46189
| 1-September-2004 |
| Bhubaneswar, India : Seventy-nine schoolchildren in
Orissa have fallen ill, 11 of them critically, after they were given
tetanus and diphtheria vaccination shots that are part of the state's
immunisation programme.
Officials said 47 students at the Kodakana primary school in
Kendrapada district were given the tetanus toxide shots and 32 were
given the diphtheria toxide vaccination on Aug 26 in the school premises
by local paramedical staff. |
| After three days, all the students
complained of skin irritation, viral fever and vomiting. Eleven of them
are critically ill and have been admitted to the local government
hospital.
One of them, a 10-year-old girl called Minirani Khatua, has blood oozing from her nose and mouth, said a district health official. |
| While some parents have complained that the reaction was
due to the repeated use of one syringe for multiple vaccinations, health
officials have denied it. |
| "We visited the village and collected the
samples of the vaccine used," said district health chief Pramilla Mallik.
"We are waiting for the test results. Only after than would we be able to know the exact reason of the illness," she said. Indo-Asian News Service |