CHENNAI: A one-and-a-half-year-old boy died hours after receiving oral polio drops at a government immunisation camp near Cuddalore on Sunday (June 28), with doctors stating that the exact cause of death will be known only after the post-mortem examination.
According to a Daily Thanthi report, the deceased, identified as Hariharan, was the son of Raji, a 27-year-old driver from Nallathur village near Thookanampakkam, and his wife Rajam. As part of the statewide pulse polio immunisation campaign, Rajam took the child to the Nallathur Primary Health Centre, where he was administered the oral polio vaccine before returning home.
After reaching home, Rajam fed the child milk and put him to sleep. When she checked on him later in the afternoon, Hariharan was found unconscious. His parents immediately rushed him to the Thookanampakkam Government Health Centre, from where he was referred to the Government Hospital in Cuddalore for advanced treatment.
However, doctors there declared that the child had died on the way to the hospital. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination, and doctors said the cause of death can be confirmed only after the autopsy report. Police have registered a case and launched an investigation.
The incident occurred on the day Tamil Nadu rolled out its annual National Pulse Polio Immunisation Campaign. Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay formally launched the drive, which aims to immunise around 53 lakh children below the age of five across the state. The campaign is part of the nationwide effort to sustain polio-free status through mass immunisation and public awareness.