4-year-old dies after polio drops
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/4-year-old-dies-after-polio-drops/articleshow/4577034.cms
25 May 2009, 2320 hrs IST, TNN
new delhi : A four-year-old child allegedly died after being administered Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) on Sunday. After his condition deteriorated, Ashish, a resident of Todapur village near Patel Nagar, was rushed to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Pulse Polio Programme officials in Delhi said the vial was administered to more than 145 children, including Ashish’s two siblings, in that area and no case of any complication has been reported so far. The officials are waiting for Ashish’s postmortem report before taking any action. A case has been registered at the Trilokpuri police station and the postmortem is likely to be conducted on Tuesday.
“Soon after the matter was brought to our notice, we visited the family in Todapur village. We are told the child was malnourished. In fact, his siblings, who were also administered OPV, suffer from some bone disease and are not very healthy. His siblings as well as the over 145 children who were given the vaccine are doing fine. The chances of death resulting from the vaccine are less, but we’re waiting for the postmortem report,” said Dr CM Khanijo, officer on special duty, Pulse Polio Programme.
Ashish was reportedly suffering from malnutrition and authorities claimed death could have been a coincidence. “We were told the boy was very weak and had to be carried in his mother’s arms. A four-year-old should ideally come walking,” said Dr Khanijo. Doctors at RML Hospital also said that death due to the vaccine was unlikely. “The child must have had an underlying medical condition and the death after the polio dose was administered appears to be a coincidence,” said a senior doctor at RML Hospital.
According to Kiran Walia, health minister, Delhi government, “We have learnt from his neighbours that Ashish suffered from some medical condition. The same vaccine was given to nearly 150 children in that locality and no one has reported any complication. Ashish’s siblings were also given the same vaccine and they’re absolutely fine. We have asked the central drug controller to check the quality of vaccine.”
** Note: One wonders that if the vaccine is ‘never’ the cause, and it is always some underlying condition, how did this child die so soon after receiving it? This begs the question that if a child is not healthy should they be given vaccines?