The main government reaction so far has beenFollowing the deaths of three children who had been vaccinated against B hepatitis in northern Quang Tri Province, Vietnamese health authorities have suspended two lots of vaccines that were related to the deaths.
The Health Ministry’s Pharmaceutical Management Department yesterday issued a decision to suspend two lots of vaccines 020812E and 020812E, which were prepared by the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No. 1 and would become expired in July 2015.
The vaccines had been used to vaccinate three children at the Huong Hoa District General Hospital on July 20 and all of them died only 10 minutes after receiving the vaccines.
According to the initial investigation results, the three children died of anaphylactic shock that occurred after being vaccinated, said Dr. Tran Van Thanh, director of the provincial Health Department.
The results were announced at a meeting among the department, the ministry’s National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute, and the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute on Monday afternoon.
Autopsy results showed that the children had blood congestion at their brains, lungs, hearts, livers, kidneys, spleens and mesentery, Dr Thanh said.
Before getting vaccinated, all the three newborns, weighing 2.8-3.1 kg, were in normal health conditions, Dr Thanh said.
About 600,000 dozes of the two lots of vaccines have been used nationwide and there have been no problems recorded, except the three deaths, he added.
Earlier the same day, heath experts from the ministry had a meeting with the Huong Hoa District General Hospital about the deaths.
At the meeting, Nguyen Tran Hien, head of the National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute, requested that the hospital make clear about three issues: the quality of the used vaccines, the process of vaccination at the hospital, and diseases possibly suffered by the three kids before they were vaccinated.
Health experts also worked with Dr. Le Thi Kim Phuong and midwife Nguyen Thi Hai Thuan, who were both responsible for vaccinating the kids and have been suspended for investigation.
According to the statistics of the preventive Health Department, Vietnam has about 1.5 million newborns per year and they are required to be vaccinated against B hepatitis within 24 hours after birth.
Another newborn’s death after vaccination
The Binh Thuan Province Health Department yesterday reported that a newborn died at 10:30 pm at the Tuy Phong District Hospital. The baby was vaccinated against B hepatitis at 10 am, four hours after being born the same day.
The vaccines used for the newborn was not the same as the vaccines that were related to the deaths of thee newborns in Quang Tri Province, said Nguyen Quoc Viet, deputy director of the provincial Health Department.
Dr. Nguyen Van Nhon, director of the department, said an investigation into the cause of the death is underway, adding that the vaccine might not be the cause of the death since the baby showed no signs of anaphylactic shock after getting vaccinated.
"All parents must sign a consent form before their child is vaccinated".