Kutch: Four infants died allegedly after
being administered a vaccine for measles at a government
hospital in Adipur town on Wednesday, district officials said.
The incident took place during 'Mamta Day', organised
by the district health department where children and pregnant
women are administered vaccines.
"As part of the 'Mamta Day', vaccines for measles were
administered to seven children, out of whom four developed
some reaction and died," Kutch Collector M Thennarasan said.
"The reaction time was very little, and the babies
died within 5-10 minutes after being administered the
vaccine," he said.
Chief Minister Narendra Modi has ordered a high-level
enquiry into the incident. He said that those responsible for
the unfortunate incident would be "severely" punished.
He said that entire batch of the vaccine has been
withdrawn from across the state.
Thennarasan said that the other three children who
were also given the vaccine are under observation.
Bodies of the four infants have been sent for
post mortem. "Only after the post mortem, we will be able to
ascertain the cause of death," he said.
The state government has announced a compensation of
Rs one lakh to the parents of the infants.
The samples of the vaccine have been collected by the
Foods and Drugs Control department and sent for analysis.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 18:49