Baby in serious condition after vaccine shot

Kanniyakumari(Tamil Nadu) May 8: A two-month-old baby girl is in a serious condition after being administered BCG and DPT vaccines at a primary health centre in this district.

Sources said Selvadarshini was administered the vaccines at Aralvaimozhi Primary Health Centre yesterday. After midnight last night, the girl started foaming at the mouth and bleeding from the ears and the nose.

Her parents rushed the baby to a private hospital at the Vellamadam where the doctors are providing intensive treatment.

Four ten-month-old babies died within minutes of being administered an anti-measles vaccine at two medical camps in Tamil Nadu's Thiruvallur district on April 23.

Three girls died at a centre in Pennalurpettai Village, about 75 km from Chennai. The fourth, a baby boy, died after getting the shot in Venkatapuram Village near Tiruttani, 35 km from Thiruvallur.

Following this, the state administration suspended two public health nurses as well as the measles immunisation programme across the state.

The Union Health Ministry rushed a team of experts headed by Pawan Murti of India's National Polio Surveillance programme (NPSP) to the spot.

Samples from various batches of the vaccine allocated to Tamil Nadu have been sent to the Central Research Institute, Kasauli, for testing.

UNI