4-month-old dies day after vaccination, parents protest

4-month-old dies day after vaccination, parents protest

Dec 31, 2016

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

LUDHIANA: Parents of a four-month-old baby from Kalyan Nagar staged a protest at Deep Hospital after the death of their infant son, who passed away less than two days after being vaccinated.

The parents rushed to Deep Hospital in Model Town after the infant's lips turned blue on Thursday evening.

Amit Kaura, the infant's uncle, said, "Esophagus surgery was conducted by Dr Sanjeev Gupta, pediatric surgeon, four months ago at Deep Hospital. We visited Dr Gupta's home on Wednesday, where he vaccinated the child. But the child suffered a reaction and his body turned blue. On Thursday evening, we rushed to the doctor's home and on his advice, we admitted the baby in the Intensive Care Unit of Deep Hospital, where he breathed his last."

Parents of the 4-month-old staged a protest against doctors on Thursday night, saying that the vaccine reaction killed the child. The doctor who treated him denied this.

Dr Baldev Singh, owner of Deep Hospital, said, "Dr Sanjeev Gupta, the visiting pediatric surgeon, goes to more than 10 to 12 hospitals. His patients took the vaccine at his place, not at my hospital. So his patients cannot claim it is the fault of the hospital. The allegations are wrong as the child was sinking badly. We did our best and tried whatever we could."

According to Dr Sanjeev Gupta, "The child had a major problem as his esophagus was not developed. He underwent a surgery when he was a day old. The final surgery was supposed to be conducted when he attained a weight of 10 kg. On Wednesday, he was given rotavirus vaccination and polio drops. He was fine for 24 hours. On Thursday, he had loose motions, for which we suggested ORS solution and asked the family to take him to the hospital if there was no improvement."

The doctor said his mother called in the evening saying his lips had gone blue and he asked her to bring the baby to the hospital. "But they brought him to my home and I accompanied him to the hospital, where we tried our best to revive him. He was brought in very serious condition and had very shallow breath. Even ventilation could not help bring him back," said Dr Gupta.

Meanwhile, family members of the child demanded police action and raised slogans against hospital authorities. Police personnel from Model Town police station had to be sent to prevent escalation of the situation.

The infant's father, Anoop, is a hosiery unit owner and resident of Kalyan Nagar.