2-month-old girl dies, parents blame rotavirus vaccination

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 5

Parents of two-month-old girl, who died this morning, have alleged that their child died due to rotavirus vaccine administered to her on November 28.

However, the baby did not show any side effects like fever, nausea, vomiting or abdominal pain, resulting from the country's Phase III trial of the vaccine as confirmed by her parents.

Rotavirus is any of a group of RNA viruses, some of which cause acute enteritis in humans. It is the most common cause of severe diarrhoea among infants and young children.

"The vaccine was given last month and our baby, Iqra, was totally fine before she died this morning," said her father Sahabuddin, a resident of Jaitpur village in south-east Delhi.

The body was sent to All Institute of Medical Sciences for post-mortem whose report will only clear the air on the cause of death of the deceased.

It is understood that the mother had breastfed her child about 3 am and then went off to sleep. It was when the baby did not wake up in the morning her parents took her to a hospital where she was declared dead.

The injection was given as a part of the government's Phase III trial of the vaccine by the Centre for Health Research and Development (CHRD), Society for Applied Sciences.

When contacted a CHRD official said, "Our job is to administer the vaccine to the children and the vaccine was provided by Serum Institute of India. We have approval for these trials."

Director of Department of Family Welfare Dr DK Dewan said, "I am yet to have much information on the matter. The vaccination is a part of the multi-centric trials looked after by the department of biotechnology and I have sought a preliminary on the matter."

No information could be gathered from the police until late night regarding the post-mortem. The father of the girl is an auto-rickshaw driver while her mother works as a domestic help.