Four infants die after immunisation in Lucknow

LUCKNOW - Four infants, aged six to nine months, died shortly after receiving routine immunisation in three different villages on the outskirts of the Uttar Pradesh capital Saturday, officials said.

“The children developed some illness within minutes of receiving their routine immunisation doses against measles, tuberculosis and vitamin A deficiency today (Saturday),” District Magistrate Anil Kumar Sagar said.

“The victims (two girls and two boys) identified as Rekha, Tanya, Satyam and Sahil, hailed from extremely poor families,” he said, adding the vials used during the immunsation drive have been seized and sent for chemical analysis.

The bodies of the children have been sent for post-mortem, while the district magistrate has ordered Rs.50,000 compensation to be paid to each of the affected families. While two of the victims belonged to Bindauna village, the remaining two were from Padmankhera and Rampur Garhi villages, all around suburban Mohanlalganj town, 25 km from Lucknow.

Villagers suspect the oral Vitamin A drops as being responsible for the deaths. Four years ago, some children had fallen ill and two had died in Lucknow after being administered doses of the vitamin as a part of the national campaign to prevent blindness.