Hindustantimes

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Ahmedabad, March 16, 2011

Four infants died in western Gujarat’s Kutch on Wednesday and about five became critical within 15 minutes of their being administered the measles vaccine as part of a drive launched by the Gujarat government. The four who died were below one. Of the ones critical, all are below one and one is 16 months old.

The incident has forced the state health department to halt the vaccination drive in the state for a week while samples have been sent for examination to the Central Research Institute, Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh. Chief minister Narendra Modi has directed the health authorities to conduct an enquiry into the incident. The state government has declared a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to each of the bereaved families.

“Our preliminary investigation into the incident has revealed that the children who were vaccinated developed reaction and four children have succumbed while a few more are under treatment,” Gujarat health minister Jaynarayan Vyas told HT.