Four children died during a routine vaccination drive in three different villages of Mohanlalganj area on the outskirts of Lucknow on Saturday.
"Minutes after being administered doses for prevention of measles, tuberculosis and Vitamin A deficiency, these children developed a strange kind of sickness. By the time they were rushed to the nearest hospital, they were dead," said District Magistrate Anil Kumar Sagar.
He added, "the victims -- two girls and two boys -- in the age group of 6-9 months , were identified as Rekha, Tanya, Satyam and Sahil. Each of them belonged to extremely poor families."
"It is a bit too early to say what led to the sickness. However, the vials used during the immunization drive have been seized and sent for chemical analysis, so that we can zero in on the killer vaccine," he said.
The bodies of the children have been sent for post-mortem. The district magistrate has ordered the payment of ex gratia of Rs 50,000 to each of the affected families. While two of the victims belonged to Bindauna village, the remaining two were from Padmankhera and Rampur Garhi villages, all within 25 km of Lucknow.
Senior officials rushed to the villages where the tragedies took place. Authorities have ordered action against the medical officer as well as the paramedical staff entrusted with the immunization drive in the area.
The possibility of Vitamin A drops doing the killer was not ruled out as four years ago, in a similar immunisation drive here, a couple of school children had fallen ill. Two of them had died after receiving doses of Vitamin A as part of a national campaign to prevent blindness.
