No link between infants death and Pentavalent

KOCHI: The state government on Monday submitted before the Kerala High Court that the link between the death of a child in Thiruvananthapuram and the administration of the pentavalent vaccine had not been proved yet. “The state government had appointed an expert committee following the controversies over the use of the vaccine. The committee, after considering various pros and cons of the use of pentavalent vaccine, recommended that the vaccine would be 100 per cent safe. It was after getting the recommendation that the government decided to proceed with the introduction of the vaccine,” the state said.An affidavit to this effect was filed by the state in response to a petition filed by a woman against the use of the vaccine, after she lost her infant, allegedly on account of the five-in-one vaccine being administered.In the affidavit, Rajeev Sadanandan, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, said that the linkage between the death and administration of the vaccine could not be established in an inquiry conducted by a team of officers from the Drugs Control Department, constituted by the Centre.“The postmortem  examination report had indicated that hypersensitivity reaction was a probable cause of the baby’s death. It did not indicate any direct relation between the vaccine and the death. The vaccine had been used by private sector hospitals for a long time before it was introduced in government hospitals. It was certified ‘safe’ by the World Health Organisation,” the affidavit pointed out.Sadanandan also said that it was licensed by the Drugs Controller General of India in 2004 after it passed all the necessary safety tests.The relationship between vaccine and hypersensitivity could not been established and as almost 20 hours had elapsed between the vaccination and death of the child, with no reaction being seen during the intervening period, administration of pentavalent vaccine could not be called the sole cause of the death, he said.