Society

Baby dies day after vaccination in Fujian

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-11 19:05

QUANZHOU - A baby boy died Sunday after receiving a hepatitis B vaccination in east China's Fujian Province Saturday, family members and a health official said Tuesday.

The one-month-old baby was given the shot at 9:30 am Saturday at Shidao Hospital in Hongmei Township, Nan'an City, a county-level city in Quanzhou, the baby's mother Huang Ali said.

"He became fidgety and cried a lot after we returned home at around 10 am," she said.

The baby, yet to be named, was the woman's second child.

When Huang woke up at 1 am Sunday, she found her son's limbs were cold and his nose bleeding. She rushed him to Shidao Hospital but he did not respond to first-aid.

Huang suspects the vaccine was low quality and caused her son's death.

"He had been a healthy baby," she said.

Health and public security bureaus are investigating the baby's death, Xie Zhiping, deputy chief of Nan'an City's health bureau, said.

Health specialists from Quanzhou and Nan'an said the baby had died from anoxia, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and lung bleeding, possible signs of suffocation, Xie said.

"The cause of his death will be pinpointed only after autopsy," Xie added.

Xie said the vaccine was produced by Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co. Ltd. and was distributed by the disease prevention and control center in Quanzhou.

He said the city has sealed all 5,001 doses of the vaccine in stock for quality inspection.

He said no other abnormal reactions to the vaccine had been reported after 4,898 doses were used.

The bereaved family's other child is a five-year-old girl.