A two-year-old boy, who was administered Measles-Rubella vaccine on Wednesday, died of fever and seizures on Friday morning. Health department officials, however, said that the child already had fever and it was not caused by the vaccine.
The child, S. Charan, son of a daily wage earner near Tirumangalam, was administered the vaccine at the Primary Health Centre in Ponnamangalam. Later in the day, the boy was taken to Tirumangalam Government Hospital following fever.
He was referred to Government Rajaji Hospital on Friday morning after he developed seizures. However, doctors at the GRH declared that the boy was brought dead to the hospital.
A senior official from health department, who conducted an inquiry , said that the boy had fever even a few days before the vaccination but his mother S. Pechiammal failed to inform the PHC staff about it.
“When a child has fever or any other problems, vaccination should not be done as it may have adverse effects. All our staff members have also been clearly instructed about this. In this case, the boy did not show any symptom at that time,” the official said.
The official added that nine other children were administered the dosage of vaccine from the particular vial used for Charan and all other kids were doing fine.
