Rumours of ‘vaccine death’ affect door-to-door campaign

The Hindu

Bangalore, Dec 23: The panic that was triggered following television reports which claimed that a child had died after being administered polio drops, has jolted the national Pulse Polio Programme. The door-to-door campaign was affected to a large extent across Karnataka and was totally held up in Bangalore owing to the rumours.

Hundreds of parents and relatives of children rushed to hospitals, including private hospitals and clinics nearby. It was on Sunday that the national programme began across the country.

Health Commissioner P.N. Srinivasachari told presspersons here that the rumours had affected the progress of the programme.

In Bangalore, doctors and health staff at various government hospitals worked without a break from 11 p.m. on Sunday until the early hours of Monday.

SMSes sent

As the rumours spread, most parents did not get their wards vaccinated on Monday. To prevent a setback to the programme, the Department of Health and Family Welfare, through various mobile service providers, sent SMSes to random numbers. The messages said: “Polio drops are absolutely safe and no adverse effects reported from anywhere in the State. Request you to not pay any attention to rumours spread on polio drops.”

The police had to be called in to control the mob at many places. They requested people not to pay heed to the rumours. In Mysore, an angry mob went on the rampage at the Government Krishnarajendra Hospital and assaulted two doctors, before ransacking the casualty and out-patient wards.