Chhattisgarh: Cong demands probe into deaths of infants following vaccination in Bilaspur

Former Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister TS Singh Deo on Sunday, 1 September sought a probe into the deaths of two infants following vaccination at an immunisation camp in a village in Bilaspur district.

A health official said that vaccination had nothing to do with the newborn deaths.

Singh Deo, who met the affected families at the district hospital in Bilaspur, called the infant deaths a “very serious” issue and sought that the entire batches of the vaccines be sealed at once.

He also demanded an official investigation into the matter.

The opposition has formed a six-member committee headed by Kota MLA Atal Shrivastava to probe the incidents.

Former Bilaspur MLA Shailesh Pandey blamed vaccination for the deaths and accused the BJP of being silent over it.

Bilaspur District Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Prabhat Shrivastava said that eight children were vaccinated on August 30 at the anganwadi centre in Pateta village under the Kota block in the district.

A two-day-old baby, who was given the BCG vaccine, died the same day, while a two-month-old child, administered with Pentavalent-I, was brought dead to hospital the next day, Shrivastava said.

“Six other children from the same village have been brought to the Bilaspur district hospital for medical examination. All are healthy and have no problem,” he said.

Shrivastava asserted that the two babies did not die due to vaccination.

The actual cause is unknown as the families of the newborns refused to get the post-mortem done. “Infection and pneumonia could have caused the deaths,” he said.

The health official said that 5,000 doses of BCG were received in a batch of which 3,000 doses have been administered. Similarly, out of 10,000 doses of the Pentavalent vaccine, 6,000 have been administered so far.

He said no such complaint had been received from anywhere concerning the vaccines before or after the deaths of the two infants.

As a precautionary measure, Shrivastava said, the use of the vaccine consignment has been stopped.