Five more children admitted to hospital

Sumeer Singh

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 11

Five children, including three with suspected measles requiring round the clock observation, were admitted to the Civil Hospital post measles-rubella vaccination on different days in the past 10 days.

All three children with measles were from Government Elementary School, Balluana village, Goniana Mandi.

Earlier too, four children with suspected measles were admitted to the Civil Hospital post vaccination.

Apart from these five children, around a dozen children with mild complication post MR vaccination were brought to the hospital either by school teachers or parents.

They were discharged after being administered immediate medical care on Friday.

Nanak Singh (7), Asha Rani (7) and Karamjeet Kaur (7), all from Balluana and students of the same school and class, developed rashes on their body on May 7 and May 8.

These children were vaccinated for measles-rubella in their school on May 1.

Deepika Sharma, a Class IX student of Adarsh School was also admitted to the hospital after her condition deteriorated with acute pain in stomach coupled with weakness. Deepika was vaccinated on May 4.

Talking to Bathinda Tribune, Dr Ravi Kant Gupta, paediatrician at Mother and Child Hospital, said, “The MR vaccine used for the campaign is a live attenuated virus. Mild fever, nausea, anxiety attacks, rashes and vomiting are some of the manifestations, which are normal.”

“It has been observed that a majority of children admitted to the hospital since the campaign began were from low socio-economic background. These children have low immunity levels and are malnourished. More than 80,000 children have been vaccinated in the district so far and treating children with mild health complications with ‘diahorrea like’ symptoms are a routine exercise during summer season for us. Such cases must not be linked with effects of MR vaccine,” Dr Gupta added.

Meanwhile, officials of the District Health Department claimed that they are gradually recovering the lost ground and have managed to achieve 21 per cent of set targets of the MR campaign in the district (as per data procured from the district immunisation office).

As many as 8,123 children were vaccinated on Friday. A total of 81,701 children have been vaccinated in the district in the past 11 days, said Kundan Kumar Pal, DIO.