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Vaccine deaths
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Measles vaccine
10-month-old baby dies after vaccine shot
10 Oct 2008
NAMAKKAL: A TEN- month old girl child died today after being administered a vaccine shot near Pachan Gounden Valasu in Paramathy Taluk of Namakkal district.
Rashidha, daughter of Raja (32) was given a dose of measles vaccine at the Jaderpalayam Primary Health Centre (PHC) on Tuesday. After returning home, the child developed high fever and was immediately taken to the same PHC where she was treated by a staff of the hospital. Dr Kumar who worked in a PHC in a nearby village then treated the child.But Rashidha’s condition worsened. Her stomach became bloated and she suffered loose motion.
This morning, as the child became weak and fainted, the parents rushed her to the Tiruchengode GH where the doctors declared the baby “brought dead.” Getting suspicious of his daughter’s death, Raja informed the local police.Paramathy Vellore Police Station Inspector N Manoharan and Jedarpalayam sub-inspector Kandasamy made preliminary investigations and have registered a case. A postmortem has been ordered and the report is awaited.
Meanwhile, the department of public health sources said that 11 children were given vaccine shots on Tuesday at the Jedarpalaym PHC.Six of them including Rashidha were administered the dose taken from the same vial. Rashidha’s blood and bowel samples have been sent for investigation.
Speaking to this website's newspaper, Dr Elango, Joint Director (In-charge) Public Health, said that as per the preliminary investigations, the death was not due to the vaccine as the child was normal for eight hours after the vaccine. She was given the right treatment for fever.The baby was fed after the treatment by the parents at home during which time she became breathless due to regurgitation, claimed Elango while assuring to reveal the full medical report as soon as it was ready.