Expired vaccines? Child dies, eight others fall ill after vaccination

Victims were vaccinated during immunisation against 9 diseases

PESHAWAR: One child died and eight others fell ill on Wednesday when ‘expired or improperly stored’ vaccines were administered during an immunisation drive in Khyber Agency.

Nine children ran high fever and started vomiting after their inoculation. All of them were rushed to Hayatabad Medical Complex but one of them died on route.

Parents told medics at the hospital that the children were administered vaccines during routine campaign against nine diseases on Monday. Within 30 hours of the vaccination, the children fell ill and most of them were brought to the HMC.

Officials at the HMC said blood samples of the children had been obtained and were being processed to ascertain what had caused their illness.

“All the children were provided medical assistance at the facility and were discharged after doctors confirmed that their lives were out of danger,” said the HMC’s official Tauheed Zulfiqar.

Following news reports, the Fata secretariat’s emergency operation cell for polio eradication clarified that the children fell ill due to routine immunisation and not during the ongoing campaign against polio virus.

“I wonder why everyone connected the unfortunate incident with polio vaccination. It has nothing to do with the campaign against polio virus,” a senior health official Fata told The Express Tribune.

Khyber Agency surgeon Dr Niaz Afridi insisted the children had not fallen ill because of expired vaccines.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2016.