When Vaccine Turns Killer

A recent immunisation drive in rural Bihar went horribly wrong. What all ails the health mission?

- Arushi Bedi

Under the bright summer sun, melancholy pervades Patori in north­west Bihar. If the lush litchi plantations across Muzaffarpur district are in anticipation of pre­monsoon showers, the people of this village in Aurai block are waiting for justice, having suffered an unexpected tragedy this month. They lost three babies, allegedly due to complications in vaccines administered for measles and Japanese encephalitis. Altogether nine children between the ages of 12 to bihar 18 months fell sick after being served with the preparation under the union government’s universal immunisation programme (UIP).

Of the three children who died, Sonu Kumar and Raja Babu reportedly fell sick within hours of being administered the vaccines. “Their arms turned black,” says Gunaur Sahani, the father of Sonu Kumar. “They had high fever and vomited several times after the vaccination.” Sahani claims he got no response to repeated calls to resident ASHA (accredited social health activist) worker Shakuntala Devi. Finding little improvement in the children’s condition till the wee hours of the next day, the families rushed the children to the nearest government hospital. It was a two-hour ride on bikes. Both the children were declared dead on arrival.

Within 24 hours, ten more vaccine administered children in the village got unwell and were rushed to hospital. All the children were kept under supervision at the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) in Muzaffarpur, where the third child Rohit Kumar lost his life. The other nine were prescribed antibiotics and sent home the next day. Dr Braj Mohan, the paediatrician who had treated the children, dubs it a case of “mass panic”. “They were brought to the hospital after the death of the first two. Most of them showed mild reaction to the vaccines; they were perfectly healthy,” he tells Outlook.