Four deaths reported after Measles Rubella vaccination in Gujarat
Gandhinagar, July 28 : Gujarat health officials on Saturday said they have received reports about four children dying after they were given measles rubella vaccination.
A Central investigating team has, however, ruled out any linkage between these deaths and the vaccination process.
Deputy Commissioner, immunization, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, said: "As per preliminary investigation, we don't see the cause of death to be vaccination. Two of the children showed signs of acute abdominal problems, one child of viral encephalitis and one of some kind of drug reaction. A definite cause of death would be known after the post-mortem reports."
While parents of two of the victim children agreed to undergo the post-mortem of their children, the parents of the other two refused. The cases of these deaths were reported after the victims underwent the vaccination carried out by the state government under a drive to eradicate measles and rubella in the nation.
The drive began from July 16. After the reports of four deaths, a Central team comprising health officials from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare arrived in the state. The team is led by Dr. Haldar.
The other officials are the Assistant Commissioner Arti Garg, Dr. Deepak Polpagare, the national team head of the Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) and Dr. Sugandha Arya, a pediatrician and the national AEFI member.
"The deaths of four children were recorded between 30 to 115 hours after the vaccination. If there was any anomaly, they would have been affected within an hour. Because of this, children are kept under observation for 30 to 45 minutes post vaccination," Haldar said.
He added post vaccination, 14 other deaths too were reported in 21 of the
states where the vaccination drive was carried out. All of those deaths were due to other medical conditions and none of them due to the measles rubella vaccines.
Haldar said the vaccination was approved by World Health Organization (WHO).
The MR vaccination project was initiated on February 7, 2017 and it would be over by April 2019. The vaccination has been completed in 17 states. It is continuing in four states -- Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Against the target of vaccinating 41 crore children across the nation, 9.62 crore are already covered.
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IPL first phase schedule announced amid travel concerns caused by war in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28 as the BCCI announced the first phase of the tournament schedule amid concerns around players' travel arrangements due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.
All matches scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium remain subject to clearance from the Karnataka government appointed expert committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 13 to assess venue preparedness in the wake of the deadly stampede at the stadium last season.
The BCCI announced the schedule of the first 20 games on Wednesday and will unveil the full schedule once the dates of elections in three states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal -- are announced.
Besides the state elections, the escalating conflict in West Asia will also be at the forefront of BCCI officials' minds. The war has wreaked havoc to international travel with operations of major airports like Doha and Dubai being heavily restricted.
As a result of that, some of the squad members of South Africa and West Indies are yet to reach home a week after the completion of their T20 World Cup campaign.
It remains to be seen if IPL bound players of those two nations report to their respective teams in time.
"There was a substantial delay in departure of West Indies and South Africa players. It would be a tough task to get them back to India on time. Plus the airfares have gone up substantially due to the war in West Asia," a team official told PTI.
Additionally, hotels across India are facing cooking gas shortage due to the raging conflict and on Tuesday, the central government invoked Essential Commodities Act to ensure uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas.
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanthan told PTI that he is expecting his players from the West Indies and South Africa -- Akeal Hossein and Dewald Brevis, to join the team well before their IPL opener.
"We are expecting no delays from their end," he said.
The second game of the opening weekend will see Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium and the opening weekend will not feature any double-headers.
A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
"During the season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two in Raipur. Punjab Kings will play four home matches in New Chandigarh and three in Dharamshala, while Rajasthan Royals will play three home matches in Guwahati and four in Jaipur," said the BCCI in a statement.
"During this period (the first 16 days), the tournament will feature four double-headers, with the afternoon matches beginning at 03:30 PM IST and the evening matches commencing at 07:30 PM IST.
"Following the opening encounter on Saturday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka," the BCCI added.
