HYDERABAD:The death of a 18-month-old girl child, allegedly due to administering of overdose and expired immunization vaccines at an Anganwadi centre, triggered tension in Nagole, Sunday.
Pranavi, the child developed fever after administering the vaccine and died on Sunday morning.
Pranavi’s mother Dhana Lakshmi took her to an Anganwadi Centre at Mathuguda in Nagole, to give DPT, Measles and Polio vaccine at around 12.30 pm Saturday afternoon. A nurse at the centre gave her DPT, Measles injection and also administered two drops of polio vaccine.
The child later developed fever and subsequently, Dhana Lakshmi gave the child a Paracetamol tablet given by the nurse during immunization.
But the fever intensified by 4 am on Sunday. Worried over her health, the parents immediately took the child to a private children’s hospital at LB Nagar. The doctors declared her brought dead.
Pranavi’s father M Sai Kumar lodged a complaint with LB Nagar police alleging that the death occurred due to negligence of the staff.
Post-mortem was conducted at Osmania General Hospital and viscera samples were sent to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), to ascertain the cause of death. Police registered a case under IPC Section 304-A (Causing death by negligence) and launched an investigation.
However, officials at Telangana Health Department ruled out overdose or improper storage of vaccine as reason for the girl’s death.
Ranga Reddy’s district Immunization officer Dr V Nirmal Kumar said that four other children were administered the same vaccine from the same vials and none of them have developed complications.
Auto-Disposable injections which take in only 0.5 ml of the vaccine were used for the purpose, which prevents overdose and reuse, he claimed.
“We checked the vials which were used for vaccination and the Paracetamol tablet which was handed over to the parents. They did not cross expiry date and were stored under prescribed storage conditions,” Dr Nirmal Kumar claimed.
“Reports of post-mortem examination and FSL test are pending. We registered a case under Section 304 (a),” said LB Nagar Police.
The vaccines have been sent to commissioner of Health and Family Welfare. They will also be tested by a laboratory in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh to check if the medicines were safe.