Health authorities have launched an investigation into the recent death of a nine-day-old baby boy whose health deteriorated after he took polio drops, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
The tragic incident happened in Dharaura village, on Monday, when health workers were administering polio drops to children, as part of the seven-day campaign, The Times of India reported.
Parents said their baby started showing strange symptoms, including foaming at the mouth and hiccups, after taking the medicine. Before the parents could do anything, the baby died.
Shortly after the incident, chief medical officer (CMO) of Lucknow, Dr SNS Yadav, appointed a team of doctors to file a report on the case. "It is surely a case of adverse event following immunisation (AEFI)," said Dr Yadav.
Health officers who investigated the case told reporters that the baby died out of some other health-related complications, as the 24 other children who received polio drops from the same health workers didn't develop any complications.
"The baby was given the vaccine at around 10.45am and he died at 12.30 pm. Prima facie, nothing wrong appears with the vaccine as 24 other kids in the same village were given polio drops from the same vial," said Dr DK Bajpai, additional CMO.
"The child was, however, severely undernourished and his mother was not breast feeding him. He also showed signs of neonatal jaundice."
Authorities are waiting for the post-mortem report to take strict action against the hospital where the baby was born. "We will also take action against the hospital, which is run by quacks," Yadav told Indian Express. The team is expected to submit the complete report soon.
Polio-related tragedies have been making rounds across the country lately. In January 2011, a one-and half-year-old Sharanya of Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, allegedly died after receiving polio drops. In another incident that happened in Surat in May 2010, parents reported that their two-month-old baby girl, Khushbu, developed fever after receiving polio drops and died within 24 hours.
