In a shocking incident, over 12 children were given hand sanitiser instead of the oral polio vaccine drops in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district. All the affected children were below the age of five, and were admitted to a hospital after they experienced nausea and vomiting. Their condition is stable, a district official said, adding that the three responsible healthcare workers will face action for the lapse. The incident occurred at a primary health centre in Ghatanji’s Kapsikopari village in Maharashtra.
Yavatmal Zilla Parishad CEO Shrikrishna Panchal said that orders to take action against two medical officers and three contractual employees who were present when the incident took place, will be issued. This was after a preliminary investigation into the incident had taken place. The incident came to light when the village sarpanch checked the drops and found them to be hand sanitiser and not polio doses, an official said on Monday.
After the children were mistakenly given sanitiser instead of the polio vaccine drops, they reported feelings of nausea and cramps and started vomiting, leaving their parents panicked. They were rushed to the Vasantaro Naik Government Hospital and Medical College for treatment. Dr Milind Kamble, VNGHMC Dean, said that the children are stable and improving and that based on their condition, they might be released on Tuesday evening.
President Ram Nath Kovind launched the Polio National Immunisation Day programme at Rashtrapathi Bhavan on January 31. The incident in Maharashtra came a day after the launch. Over 2,000 children had gathered at the PHC in Yavatmal to receive their polio immunisation drops. District Collector M D Singh reportedly visited the children affected by the sanitiser fiasco on Sunday night.
Though the country has been largely free of the poliovirus for close to a decade, the national Pulse Polio immunisation drive kicked off once again to avoid the spread of the disease.