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Dr Nyasha Masuka

Paidamoyo Chipunza Harare Bureau
A THREE-YEAR-OLD baby boy from Jotsholo in Matabeleland North province died of aspiration (drawing in vomit) and not complications related to immunisation, Matabeleland North provincial medical director Dr Nyasha Masuka said yesterday.

Dr Masuka said the boy was unwell for four days prior to the day he received a measles and rubella vaccine. The five-day nationwide immunisation programme began on September 28 and ended on October 2.

“During the campaign the mother came to the clinic and let the child be immunised first before seeking medical treatment for his condition just after immunisation,” he said.

“At first reading the child’s temperature was 39 Degrees Celsius and since they were coming from a distant village, they were asked to remain at the facility for about four hours as nurses monitor and manage the condition of the child with antibiotics. During that period, the child’s temperature dropped to 38 Degrees Celsius and then 36,5 Degrees Celsius before they were discharged,” said Dr Masuka.

He said while at home the child’s condition deteriorated as he began passing bloody diarrhoea, prompting the mother to return with the child to the clinic on the following morning.

“The child was unconscious, he had a fever and was coughing. He was admitted into the ward but unfortunately died a few hours after admission,” said Dr Masuka.

“Postmortem results into the cause of death for the child show that he died of aspiration and it is not in any way related to complications of the rubella and measles vaccine or Vitamin A supplement.”

Dr Masuka said bloody diarrhoea was usually a result of a bacteria and there was no way the child could have developed a bacterial infection in that short space of time between the time he was immunised and the time he started passing bloody diarrhoea.

He said two days after the boy was admitted into the clinic, his mother also got admitted into the same clinic with the same symptoms.

“We have since taken her stool sample to the laboratory to confirm what type of infection they might have picked but we are treating it as a case of dysentery until we get lab confirmations,” said Dr Masuka.

He said they have also requested for water samples from the source this family was getting its water for further investigations.

The latest development dispels fears that mass immunisations were not good for children.

Dr Masuka said in Matabeleland North province the programme went on smoothly with only 26 minor to moderate reactions to the vaccine characterised mostly by rashes and fever.

Rubella, commonly known as German measles, mimics measles and is caused by the rubella virus although it is often mild.

It can cause foetus deformities in pregnant women if it’s not treated.

Last year the country recorded more than 1,000 rubella cases.

The main symptom of rubella is a rash-pink or light red on the face which then spreads to the chest, stomach, back, arms and legs.