Damoh:
In a tragic incident, four infants died after being given an anti-measles vaccine in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district. Fifteen other infants have taken ill, four of them critical.
Among those who lost their children is Rajni Vishwakarma who lost her nine-month-old baby boy.
"He was given the injection in the morning. My child had developed fever and diahorrea, I rushed to the hospital, but by the time we reached, he was dead," she said.
According to the hospital authorities, the nurse Durga Tiwari had taken the vaccine vials home to store it in her refrigerator. But instead of carrying it in a proper vaccine carrier, she took it in a thermos.
On Friday, when the vials were brought to the hospital she prepared the mixture, but the inoculation was done four hours later. By that time, the vaccines had turned toxic.
"Why did they administer the vaccine even when they saw it was not in a proper carrier? We feel the distributors are also to blame," said Dr AN Mittal, Joint Health Director, Madhya Pradesh.
So far, out of nine children who were administered the vaccine, four are still critical.
Worried parents of seven more infants who were going through other vaccination programmes in the hospital, rushed to the hospital after the children showed feverish symptoms. But they have all been discharged.
Meanwhile, the police have arrested the nurse charging her with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The doctor who administered the vaccines has also been suspended.