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Nigeria: Women Worry Over Effect of Polio Vaccine on Children
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Daily Trust (Abuja)
7 November 2007
Posted to the web 7 November 2007
Samson Ojo
Lagos
Women in Lagos State have complained over effects of the polio vaccine on their children in ongoing polio immunisation programme in the state.
The polio vaccine, called IPV, is administered as a drop into the mouths of children aged between two and six years. Most children get four doses of the vaccine between that period.
Daily Trust learnt that the recent polio vaccine has a negative effect on many of the immunised children.
Speaking with Daily Trust, Mrs. Ajoke Oni said she was surprised when somebody in her child's school came to tell her last Tuesday to say that her child went into a shock after the immunisation.
"I immediately rushed the boy to hospital where he was attended to," she explained.
Another respondent, Bukola Sobande said her two-year old son was given the vaccine in the school on Tuesday and for three days the boy could not sleep, had high temperature and started coughing.
She said she had to take the boy to hospital after treating him with paracetamol for three days. Corroborating Sobande's claim, Ngozi Ojikutu, another mother, alleged that many of those who carry out the exercise were not trained medical personnel and may have exceeded the normal dose.
"My boy became weak and restless after taking the vaccine. Of course, he had been taking it before, so I don't know why this is different," she said.
"This is not the first time the polio immunisation programme will hold. We just hope the vaccine has not expired. You know this is Nigeria," another worried mother, Nkem Akpam, said.
Dr. Samuel Kayode, a neurologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, explained that the polio vaccine is actually the polio virus which had been weakened by the process it had undergone.
According to him, when it is administered, the body is expected to react the way it would if the virus actually attacks the individual. It is the antibody that would now fight it.
He added that generally, irritation and a rise in body temperature usually manifest when the vaccine is administered.
Kayode however said if the vaccine was not properly stored, it could be dangerous.
He advised parents to immunise their children at the General Hospital and local government health centres.
When contacted, the Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State on Health, Toyin Hamzat said he was not aware and had not received complaints over the polio vaccine.
He promised to enquiry from health officials at the ministry.
Concerns are being raised because of what happened in 1996 when Pfizer International Incorporated administered a vaccine called 'Trovan' on scores of children in Kano. The children, who were suffering from meningitis, died.
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The incident sparked outrage which resulted in a law suit instituted by the Federal Government seeking $7 billion compensation from Pfizer for the victims. The matter is still in court.
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| Copyright © 2007 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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