Baby dies after polio immunisation in TN

A seven-month old girl child died hours after being administered oral polio drops in a village near here, but health department officials said the death was not due to the vaccination.
   
Pavithra, daughter of Sasikala of Karikapatty in the district, along with her three-year old sister was given the vaccine at a camp in the village during the second round of the intensive pulse polio immunisation campaign in the state on Sunday.
   
After returning home, Pavithra swooned within an hour. Parents rushed the baby to the Jalakandapuram Government Hospital where the doctors declared the child as brought dead.    

The incident sparked tension in the village for some time with panic-stricken parents thronging the hospital with their children to check their health status.
   
Deputy director of health Dr J Nirmalson, who visited the village, quoting emergency post-mortem report said the death was due to reasons other than pulse polio immunisation.
   
Pointing out that 16 other children, including Pavithra's sister, who received the drops from the same batch of vial, did not have any problem, he said the child could have died due to choking on consumption of milk.
   
Vital organs of the child had been sent to the Coimbatore Forensic Laboratory for further analysis, he added.