TIRUVANNAMALAI: A 45-day-old baby, suffering from breathing difficulties, died on the way to hospital on Wednesday night, however, the parents filed a police complaint alleging their child had died due to complications from a vaccine administered at a Primary Health Centre (PHC) the same morning.
Official sources said the child, Y Rudravan, was born to Yuvaraj K and Supriya Y at a private hospital in Puducherry last month. The family later returned to their native, Tiruvannamalai. On Wednesday morning, they took their child to a nearby PHC in Tiruvannamalai town, where he was administered a pentavalent vaccine. Later that night, the parents noticed their child having difficulty breathing; they rushed him to Government Tiruvannamalai Medical College and Hospital, however, the doctors declared the child dead on arrival.
Alleging the baby died due to complications from the vaccine administered, Yuvaraj lodged a complaint with the Tiruvannamalai East Police Station. “My child had no prior health issues. He was perfectly healthy. I suspect there was a problem with the vaccine, which is why I filed the complaint. We are awaiting the autopsy report,” said Yuvaraj.
When contacted, Tiruvannamalai District Health Officer R Selvakumar told TNIE that the same vaccine was administered to seven more babies at the same PHC on Wednesday and none suffered similar symptoms. A total of 681 babies were vaccinated in the district on Wednesday, he said and assured further investigation upon the reception of the autopsy report.