CHENNAI: A two-and-a-half-year-old girl died allegedly within two hours of receiving the third dose of an anti-rabies vaccine in Kamareddy district of Telangana on Sunday, prompting protests by her family members and the registration of a police case against the duty doctor.
According to a Daily Thanthi report, the child, identified as Greetharsha, had been administered the vaccine at the Government Medical College Hospital. Soon after returning home, she reportedly lost consciousness. Her parents rushed her to a nearby private hospital where staff informed them that her pulse had dropped. She was then taken back to the government hospital, where doctors declared her brought dead.
Angered by the incident, the girl’s parents and relatives staged a protest outside the hospital alleging medical negligence. Police later deployed additional security to control the situation. Based on a complaint lodged by the child’s father, a case has been registered against the doctor who administered the injection.
Hospital Superintendent Venkateswarlu said vaccines do not normally cause death and that the exact cause would be known only after the post-mortem report and further inquiry.
Greetharsha, daughter of Ramesh and Archana from Kottalpalli in Kamareddy mandal, had been bitten by a stray dog on January 25 while playing outside her house.
The family, which had recently moved to Ayyappa Nagar Colony in Kamareddy town for livelihood, had taken the child to the government medical college hospital where she received the initial doses of the anti-rabies vaccination.
She was brought again on Sunday afternoon for the third dose, after which the incident occurred.