Experts to Probe Infant Death After Vaccination at Pune PHC

PUNE:
Weeks after a two-month-old baby girl died tragically, shortly after she was administered a pentavalent vaccine at the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Phursungi, the district health department has still been unable to determine the cause of her death. Now, further investigations will be handed over to an expert committee from the B J Government Medical College.
Muskan Sumaiyya Shahrukh Baghwan was given her first vaccination dose on December 1 last year, after which she developed Adverse Effects Following Immunisation (AEFI) and died on December 7. As per recent reports of the AEFI committee that looked into the cause of her death, they were unable to pinpoint the reason as no post-mortem was conducted before the family finished her last rites.
The Baghwans hail from Barshi Solapur, and have a temporary address in Uruli Devachi. They had come to visit Pune in December, when Muskan’s mother, Summaiya, saw a vaccination programme going on at the Phursungi PHC, and took Muskan there. Muskan was born on October 6, 2017, through normal delivery, weighing in at around 3,500 grams. Summaiya had taken a tetanus vaccine, and newborn Muskan was also given the BCG and OPV doses.
On the day Muskan was given the pentavalent vaccine, 32 infants were vaccinated — however, only she developed the AEFI after a few days. Around 2 pm on December 3, Muskan experienced swelling and blood discharge from her left thigh, where she was injected. She was treated by a local doctor, and got relief for a few days, but around 11.30 pm on December 6, she began crying again, was treated by the same private doctor, and sent back home. On December 7, around 2.45 am, Muskan had breathing problems and was taken to a private hospital, then shifted to Sassoon General Hospital. There, she was declared dead by doctors around 6.30 am.
District health officer Dr Dilip Mane said, “We cannot say the pentavalent vaccine was the cause behind the infant’s death. There could have been some other reason, as she did not die just after being injected or later on the same day. We have sent a report to the state health department, which will now transfer it to a B J Government Medical College expert committee to probe the cause of death. The actual reason will be clear after we receive the committee’s reports.”