14 DAY TRIAL // Over the weekend, 31 babies in the municipality of Simojovel in the Mexican state of Chiapas fell ill after having been administered routine vaccines against tuberculosis, rotavirus and hepatitis B.
Of the 31 babies who were sickened by the vaccines, 2 passed away shortly after admission to hospital. As for the survivors, health officials say that 6 of them are in grave condition.
“The 29 children who were suspected adverse reactions associated with the application of vaccines remain hospitalized, 23 of which are stable and 6 are serious.”
“Direct contact with the families of the 29 hospitalized children was established to give them all the facilities they require,” the Mexican Social Security Institute writes in a statement.
Health officials in Mexico are yet to announce the age of these children who required urgent medical help after having been vaccinated against tuberculosis, rotavirus and hepatitis B.
Still, seeing how doctors recommend that these vaccines be administered by the time a child is 6 months old, it's safe to assume that they are very young.
Vaccines were halted shortly after the babies were hospitalized
Just hours after the 31 babies fell ill and were rushed to the hospital, health officials in Mexico ordered that vaccines against tuberculosis, rotavirus and hepatitis B be suspended nationwide.
However, seeing how no other cases of adverse reactions were documented in other parts of the country, authorities eventually lifted this ban everywhere except in Chiapas.
Even in this municipality, health officials agreed that the one vaccine that should no longer be administered, be it only for a while, was the one for hepatitis B.
Yesterday, May 10, the hepatitis B vaccine said to have made the babies sick was still suspended in Chiapas. An investigation is ongoing and health officials hope to soon identify the problem batch.
As for the decision to let doctors resume vaccination programs in areas where no instances of adverse effects were reported, authorities point out that vaccines are still the best way to prevent epidemics.
“Vaccination campaigns have proven to be one of the public health strategies more effectively to reduce the presence of preventable diseases in the population,” says the Mexican Social Security Institute.