Ten children were taken ill after being administered an antibiotic at Ruia’s children hospital here on Thursday.
A senior hospital official said the children were injected a dose of ‘ceftriaxone’, a common antibiotic that is administered for a wide range of diseases.
Out of the 312 children currently in admission at the hospital, 10 had a reaction to the antibiotic, and developed symptoms of nausea, shivers, and fever.
“The antibiotic must have been administered to more than 200 in the group, but only 10 exhibited a reaction to the medicine. We have initiated measures to counter the reaction, and their condition is stable,” he maintained. On the condition of other children, the hospital officials said none of them developed any reaction and all were completely safe. In addition to keeping a close watch on the situation, the officials said they would be returning the entire batch of the antibiotic, manufactured by Goa Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Limited and supplied by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The higher-ups, as also the pharmacovigilance, had been informed about the incident.
Chaos
Earlier, chaos prevailed at the ward as parents were worried over their children’s condition. Calm returned after the children responded to the countermeasures initiated by the doctors.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas was said to have enquired about the situation from hospital superintendent B. Sidda Naik. He reportedly directed the officials to ensure better medical care to the children and initiate a probe into the incident.
