A six-month-old child died after he was reportedly administered a DPT vaccine at Lamkichuha Municipality-1 in Kailali district on Sunday night.

The family said Binod Ale Magar of Bhuruwa settlement died a few hours after a health worker administered the vaccination at a local health post. The victim was taken to a health facility under the regular immunisation programme.

Prem Bahadur Ale Magar, the victim’s uncle, said the child was in normal health  when he was administered the DPT vaccination at around noon.

“The child was crying after the vaccination. We were thinking he was crying in pain because of the vaccination. He died at night,” he said.

The postmortem of the child was conducted at Tikapur Hospital, but Dr Navaraj Sharma at the hospital said it was too early to claim that the child had died due to vaccination.

“Only the postmortem report will confirm the cause of the child’s death,” he added.

Two other children, who were administered the vaccination at the health post the same day, were also taken ill. Mihika Chaudhary and Dipika Chaudhary, one aged three years and the other two months, were admitted at the Tikapur Hospital after they fell ill. They have rashes all over their bodies.  

A month ago, a child from Janaki Rural Municipality-4 of Kanchanpur district, too had died shortly after he was administered a measles vaccination. He was taken to Tikapur Hospital as he fell unconscious 15 minutes after the vaccination.