Baby's death not linked to polio vaccine, says doctor Kadapa

A newborn died and four other babies fell ill after allegedly being administrated polio drops here, however, the health officials have claimed the incident were not linked to vaccination.

The incident took place in Nallaguttapalli village under Ramapuram Mandal of Kadapa district, where children up to five years were given oral polio drops on Monday as part of a nationwide campaign.

Nagaraju and Ramanamma, residents of the village, claimed their two-month-old baby fell ill after being administrated polio drops and died this morning. Four other children developed fever and suffered from vomiting and diarrhoea after being given the drops, their parents have alleged. They have been admitted in Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences at Kadapa. Anganwadi worker of Eswaramma village had given polio vaccine to more than 100 children. However, local health officials said there was no link between the death/illness and the polio drops. The death of a two-month-old baby in Nallaguttapalli was not due to polio vaccine, K C Kullayappa Naik, a doctor with Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Ramapuram, told media. According to Naik, a pulse polio vial contains 40 drops and it is used for 15 to 20 kids. We had given polio drops to some other children at the same time from the same vial. All others are healthy and have no problem. He said the death may have been caused due to some other reasons, which the parents might not have recognised. Meanwhile, Ramapuram Sub-inspector of Police Venkatachalapathi said the incidents have been brought to their notice but no formal complaint has been lodged.