Toddler dies half an hour after allegedly being administered polio drops in Ludhiana

New Delhi: A one-and-a-half-year-old-boy died after allegedly being administered polio drops forcefully in Ludhiana's Abdullapur Basti area.

Barely half an hour after being given the drops by Anganwadi workers as part of a door-to-door immunisation drive, the child lost his life.

The bereaved family, which belonged to Agra, was visiting relatives at Fauji Mohalla. According to reports, the toddler was asleep and was woken up by Asha workers for the purpose of administering the drops.

Within half an hour, he started frothing at the mouth and was rushed to Krishna Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

The Indian Express quoted the victim's father saying, “My son was sleeping on a cot outside the house when Anganwadi workers entered. They forcefully woke him up and administered the polio drops. Family members had told them not to vaccinate the child as he was sleeping. Just half an hour after the incident, the child’s health started deteriorating. He fell unconscious and was taken to the nearby hospital, where he was declared brought dead.”

Dr Jasbir Singh, District Immunisation Officer, said,”In our five-day long drive, we administered drops to over 3.75 lakh children and no ailment has been reported in any child. Death of the child must be due to some other reason. It was just a coincidence that it happened some time after administering polio drops. A board of doctors will be carrying out the postmortem, which will reveal the cause of death,” the report said.

According to a report in the Times of India (TOI), he also added that 20 other children in the area had also been administered drops from the same vial and they were all doing fine.

“There is no connection between polio drops and the child's death. Such an incident has never been reported ever since the pulse polio drive started in 1995,” he said.

The police, meanwhile, reached the spot immediately after the incident took place and an inquiry is underway. Statements of the family members have been recorded and action will be taken after the postmortem report.