Infant dies within 12 hours of being administered Polio vaccine, chaos in Bhuban Hill

In a heart wrenching incident an infant aged one and a half month old died within 12 hours of being administered polio vaccine. This has created a lot of chaos among the locals. The incident took place in Bhuban Hill GP of Ganganagar village part 13 under Sonai Primary Health Centre. As per the family, on 21st December their child was to receive a polio vaccine. Accordingly, on call of the local Asha worker, Purnima Urang, wife of Sajal Urang, of Ganganagar (Krishnapur) village part 13, took the newborn to the Polio Camp of Krishnapur Reserve Punji for vaccination. Three injections were given to the newborn there. Coming home after vaccination, the newborn developed high fever and vomitted once. Tragically the newborn baby died that night at 11 pm.

Meanwhile, the news of infant death caused great uproar among the villagers. On Thursday morning, people from the neighborhood came to the house of the infant after hearing news of his demise. Asha worker and Bhubanhil GP president Nihar Ranjan Suklabaidya were informed about the incident. Later they rushed to the spot and informed the matter to the higher authorities of the administration.

Harina Deputy Primary Health Center in-charge Dr. Aziz Ahmed did not respond to our query on the phone but said that a departmental investigation will be conducted.

Speaking about her child the mother said, “He was given one vaccine and two injections. He developed high fever and felt uneasy. He puked once and then died at 11 pm.”

Talking about the child the grandfather said, “The baby was doing fine before getting the jab. From 4 pm he developed fever after receiving the polio vaccine. His fever went up at night and we couldn’t avail any doctor at that time. He didn’t have any history of previous disease or complications and drank his mother’s milk quite fine.”