DINDIGUL: A 45-day-old baby boy from Pillaiyarnatham area died on Thursday morning after receiving immunisation vaccine the previous day from a primary health centre.
According to sources, the baby of Vijayakumar and Suganya, received the vaccination at Primary Health Centre at Alamarathupatti on Wednesday, following which, the baby developed a fever. On Thursday morning, the mother breastfed the baby and put him to sleep in a cradle before she went to take a bath. When she returned, she noticed blood oozing from the child's nostrils and mouth, upon which the baby was rushed to the government hospital in Dindigul, where the doctors declared that the child was brought dead.
The child's body was handed over to the parents after postmortem and Pilayarnatham police registered a case. Further investigation is underway.
Speaking to TNIE, Deputy Director(DD) of Health Services Dr Varatharajan said that the hospital administered the vaccine (OPV-1, pentavalent vaccine - 1, and Rota Virus -1) to the baby, along with four other children of the same age and said none of the others reported any side-effect.
"Over 50 children received the same vaccination in the district on the same day. But no complaints were reported. After drinking the mother's milk, the baby may have suffered suffocation or some other difficulty. However, we can confirm the cause of death only after the postmortem results are in," he added.