Probe launched as children fall sick after immunisation drive
Bangladesh on Tuesday launched a probe into reported death of two children and mass illness of thousand others after they were given Vitamin A capsules and de-worming tablets as part of a nationwide immunisation campaign three days ago, official said.
Bangladesh on Tuesday launched a probe into reported death of two children and mass illness of thousand others after they were given Vitamin A capsules and de-worming tablets as part of a nationwide immunisation campaign three days ago, official said.
They said that the government has formed a five-member committee headed by director of primary health care Jahangir Alam to find out if the children’s sickness, mainly diarrhoea, were caused by the Vitamin A plus campaign.
“The committee has been asked to submit its report in three days,” a health ministry spokesman told PTI.
According to newspaper reports, a six-year-old girl and an eleven-year-old boy died in suburban Munshiganj and western Rajbari districts and over 1,000 children were exposed to sudden illness in the past three days after taking the Vitamin A and de-worming drugs.
The reports sparked a panic as worried parents rushed to the health facilities with their children.
Under a periodic immunisation drive against worm and malnutrition, some 20 million children were provided drugs at thousands of clinics and health centres across the country.
Health Minster AFM Ruhul Haque, however, said there were no side effects due to the Vitamin A capsule and the de-worming tablets and the parents shouldn’t be panic as “rumours are being spread intentionally.”