Expired vaccines have killed and injured babies.
In the last few months vaccinations have caused the death of eight children in India and left others critically ill. The most recent death to be reported is a three month old baby girl who died just hours after receiving the 5 in 1 vaccination.
Baby Tanujasree received a second dose of the 5 in 1 vaccination at 9.30 am on Wednesday morning but sadly died a few hours later. Her father, Ramarao of Mettupalayam, told The Hindu that he had taken his baby daughter to the health centre in Vadima Nagar for the vaccination but she soon became unwell. The Hindu reported that the baby was rushed back to the health centre after she lost consciousness:
“After returning home, Tanujasree became restless and began crying. By 11.30 a.m., the infant lost consciousness following which her parents rushed her back to the health post.
The staff there checked the child and informed her parents that she was in a serious condition. Ramarao and his wife rushed their baby girl to the Institute of Child Health in Egmore where she failed to respond to treatment and died a few hours later.”(sic)
When a death follows vaccination excuses are usually made as to why the vaccination couldn’t possibly be the cause of death and this was no exception with the baby’s death being put down to the fact that Tanujasree’s mother had breast fed the infant shortly after she was vaccinated.
Desperate to persuade Indian parents that vaccinations are safe and they must continue to vaccinate their children, family welfare officials made two further attempts to cover up the baby’s death by stating:
“From the same vial, 16 other babies were immunized. The same batch of vaccine has been used to immunize many babies in the city. This is a tried-and-tested vaccine and there is no need for panic…”
What the officials omitted to say was that this little girl was not the first to die after receiving the pentavalent (5 in 1) vaccination in India in the last few months. This vaccination was first launched in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in December 2011 and is currently being administered to children aged 6, 10 and 14 weeks. The vaccination is said to protect children from diphtheria, pertussis, hepatitis B, tetanus and Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b) however, initial results have not been encouraging. By May Kerala had recorded a total of four infant deaths following the vaccination sparking outrage all over India. (2)
The 5 in 1 vaccine is not the only vaccine to have caused the death of a child this week. A few weeks ago the Express Tribune (3) reported that 3 children had died and 3 more were left critically ill after receiving out of date measles vaccinations from a dispensary in Banjot Manglawar.
The Tribune reported that:
“Six children taken there started shivering and vomiting soon after the counteragent was administered to them.
They were then driven to the Saidu Group of Teaching Hospital. One of them died on way, two expired at the hospital, and the rest were hospitalised in a critical condition” (sic)
As if this tragic situation was not bad enough the Tribune reported that these sick and dying children were treated in extremely poor conditions having to lie on the hospital floor through the lack of space.
Dr Alladin told the Tribune:
“All the children were treated at the emergency ward. They have symptoms of hepatitis. However, we haven’t been able to diagnose the problem because we don’t know anything about the vaccines they were given…”
You would have thought that all vaccinations would have been checked for expiry dates especially after 3000 children had been given expired polio drops in South Waziristan, just weeks ago.
In mid June it was reported that 3000 young and vulnerable children had been given expired polio drops. In an article now removed from the Internet, the Express Tribune reported that in June of this year 3000 vulnerable children under the age of five had been given expired polio drops in clinics in several areas of Shakai, Aslam. A senior official told the Tribune that the expired vials had been immediately seized and a report submitted to the office of the assistant political agent of Wana Sub-division stating that the drops had expired a month earlier.
The Tribune reported that the drops had affected a number of children including Muhammad Nawaz Khel’s child who suffered ill effects from the expired polio vaccine. Muhammad told the Tribune that on June 14th a polio team came to his house in Landi Noor, Shakai, where Shah Zeb, was given the expired polio drops, however, that night Zeb’s temperature started rising rapidly and early in the morning he was shifted to the Noor Muhammad Medical Clinic in Wana Bazaar. Mr. Khel said:
“Doctors at the clinic told us that he had developed a chest infection.
The next day morning we came to know that children in other houses of Landi Noor were also suffering from high fever. But we never thought that they were getting sick because of the polio vaccination.
We are willing to immunise our children but we do not want to kill them by giving them expired vaccines. An investigation should be launched to find out how this could happen.”(Sic)
He is absolutely right as out of date vaccinations are potentially extremely dangerous as the parents in Banjot Manglawar have learned their cost. What is even more outrageous about the whole situation is reporters from the Tribune stated government departments had tried to keep the whole incident a secret but it quickly became public knowledge as sick children affected by the drops were brought to clinics in Shakai and Wana Bazaar for treatment.
Sadly the original story is no longer on the Internet because as I went to put the hyperlink into my references it had strangely disappeared. When this happens I have to wonder what it is that is being covered up and why.
To prove that I did not just imagine the story, the Ahmadiyya Times had also reported on the same story which appears to be suppressed. (4)
When will these tragic stories end? India has enough problems without out of date and dangerous vaccinations being given to often sick and vulnerable babies. What these children really need is clean water supplies and decent nourishment, not out of date poison being injected into their tiny bodies.
The staff vaccinating these tiny children with out of date products need to be held accountable. If this was a supermarket selling out of date meat and children died as result, the company would be sued for millions of dollars. When it comes to vaccinations, the staff who have caused the death of these children will get no more than a slap on the wrist.
References
1. The Hindu 3-month-old girl dead hours after vaccination in Chennai http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3628673.ece?homepage=true#.T_4kI-fSRHI.gmail
2. The Times of India Two Infant Deaths After Vaccination in Tami Nadu http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-13/chennai/32662981_1_pentavalent-vaccine-immunization-programme-aefi
3. Hati Cheri India serves up costly cocktail of vaccines http://www.dadychery.org/2012/05/01/pentavalent-vaccines-promoted-by-who-despite-deaths/
4. Express Tribune Anti-measles drive: Expired vaccines claim three lives in Swat http://tribune.com.pk/story/406079/anti-measles-drive-expired-vaccines-claim-three-lives-in-swat/
5. Ahmadiyya Times Pakistan Over 3000 children given expired polio drops. http://ahmadiyyatimes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/pakistan-over-3000-children-given.html