Two children die after polio vaccination

January 9, 2008

asp?cu_no=2 & item_no=194671 & version=1 & template_id=40 & parent_id=22

Published: Wednesday, 9 January, 2008, 02:24 AM Doha Time

PATNA: Two children, including a two-day-old baby, died after being given

polio vaccines in Bihar, health officials said yesterday.

The two-day-old girl died on Monday in Munger town, about 150km from the

state capital Patna, soon after she was given polio drops.

“My daughter died within half-an-hour after she was given the polio drops,”

the girl’s father Yamuna Mahto said.

Mahto said he and his wife took the newborn to a government hospital for BCG

vaccination but officials forcibly gave her polio drops that resulted in her

death.

A three-year-old girl in the same town also died on Monday after she was

given polio drops.

Her father Ramashish Singh said his daughter was given the polio drops by

hospital employees although he told them she had been brought for treatment

of cough and cold.

Parents of both children have demanded strong action against the hospital

officials.

Reports said several children have fallen ill in Gaya, Patna, Darbhanga and

Munger districts after being given polio drops.

“There was nothing wrong with the drops but we will investigate the matter,”

Munger civil surgeon Bhola Prasad Singh said.

Last year, Bihar recorded 244 new polio cases, the highest since the polio

immunisation drive was launched in the state nearly a decade ago.

Experts have blamed the rise in polio cases on devastating floods and the

failure of the polio eradication campaign in reaching out to marginalised

people in far-flung areas.

Bihar recorded 158 polio cases in 1998 when the polio immunisation drive

started, and subsequently 123 in 1999, 49 in 2000, 22 in 2001, 121 in 2002,

18 in 2003, 39 in 2004, 30 in 2005 and 61 in 2006.

It was found that even children vaccinated against polio were getting

infected with the disease.- IANS

Recommended Posts