Three babies die after polio vaccinations

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Health Sujudi reported yesterday that three children died this week after being vaccinated for polio, arguing that diseases, not the vaccine, killed them.

The deaths occurred in Tangerang and Cianjur, West Java, and in Lampung, Sujudi told a press conference on the nationwide vaccination drive.

The three-day drive, which targeted 21.8 million Indonesian children below the age of five, successfully vaccinated 22.7 million children= or 104 percent of its original target, he said.

According to Sujudi, the three babies were sick when they were taken to health workers to be immunized.

"Maryati (of Tangerang) died of bronchial-pneumonia, a disease which often affects children under the age of five," Sujudi said.

Maryati, whose death sparked a lively debate on possible legal action against the health workers in charge of her immunization, was reportedly breathing heavily before she died.

"The polio vaccine is safe and is unlikely to cause death," he said, adding that the vaccine takes effect after two weeks. "So, it is impossible that the vaccine works immediately after it is delivered."

A vaccine is a preparation of dead microorganisms or living attenuated organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease.

According to the ministry's report, by Thursday 12 p.m., three children had died shortly after being vaccinated.

In Tangerang, 14-month-old Maryati died an hour after receiving two polio vaccine drops at a vaccination post in Palasari village.

An 18-month-old unidentified child died in Cianjur and a four- month-old male infant died in Lampung shortly after receiving vaccinations.

"In Cianjur, the baby died because of bronchial-pneumonia, while in Lampung, the baby was suffering from diarrhea." Sujudi said.

Sujudi, a physician by training, refused to say whether the polio vaccine worsened the children's conditions.

He said he was waiting for reports from 275,000 more vaccination posts across the country.

Noted lawyer Amir Syamsuddin said earlier that it would be difficult to blame the volunteers recruited to administer the vaccine.

He criticized the drive for focusing on quotas and urged the national committee to become more professional.

The first phase of the second anti-polio drive, involved one million health workers -- recruited mostly from the Family Welfare Movement, social organizations, the scouts and teachers -- to administer 60 million doses of the vaccine.

Last year, a seven-day campaign vaccinated 101.8 percent of its target of 21.7 million children.

Sujudi said that more children than estimated were vaccinated this year because of a wide-spread publicity campaign on the drive and because of an increased number of new-born babies.

"Eighteen provinces, including East Timor, vaccinated more children than were targeted," he said.

The second phase of the drive will occur on Oct. 15. (31)