Two-year-old boy dies after being given polio drops in Chennai
01:45PM Sun 23 Jan, 2011
CHENNAI: A two-year-old boy died soon after being given oral polio drops at Padappai in suburban Chennai on Sunday morning, the child's mother told TOI.
Doctors at Chromepet General Hospital said the child was brought dead, and the cause of death could be ascertained only after a postmortem analysis.
Joshua, (2), was taken to an anganwadi by his mother Dhanalakshmi at 8.30 am and given oral polio drops. "I gave the child milk after bringing him home. I was doing the daily chores for a while and when I got back to the child, I saw him in distress. I took him to the nearby Sai Hospital. The private hospital advised me to take him to the general hospital. My son died on the way," Dhanalakshmi told TOI.
Tamil Nadu director of public health Dr RT Porkai Pandian said it was highly unlikely that the polio drops could have caused the death. "Several other children were given the polio drops from the same vial, but none of them have any problem," he added.
Many other parents in the neighbourhood panicked and took their children for medical check-up after coming to hear of Joshua's death.
Immunisation programme in the state had come under a cloud after four 10-month-old babies died within minutes of being administered anti-measles vaccine at two medical camps in Tamil Nadu's Thiruvallur district on April 23, 2008. 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.
Source: TOI