Another Vit A death reported as probe begins

Samples could be sent to Denmark for lab test
A committee constituted by the health ministry on Tuesday started investigation into the reported death and sickness of the children after taking Vitamin A capsules and deworming tablets as a third child died reportedly of complications from the medicines in Pirojpur on the day.
Besides the three reported deaths, several thousand children across the country fell sick in the last four days after taking the medicines.
The health minister, AFM Ruhal Huq, however, told the parliament Tuesday that no child had died in the country after taking Vitamin A capsule and deworming tablet (Albendazole).
Answering a supplementary question from Jatiya Party lawmaker Salma Islam, he also said, ‘Even there has been no report from anywhere in the world that Vitamin A capsule or deworming tablet has caused any death.’
Symptoms like vomiting or headache can be observed as a side effect of deworming tablet in rare cases, he added.
A few children have been admitted to hospitals with diarrhoea after their parents gave them tamarind or lemon juice following an announcement by some people through loudspeakers that children might die of complications from the medicines. The children are improving, the minister said.
He also said that there were no such patients in any hospital on Tuesday.
New Age correspondents, however, reported that more children fell sick on Tuesday after taking the medicines on Saturday and some of them were admitted to Gazipur general hospital, Barisal She-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital, Pirojpur sadar hospital, Dhaka Children’s Hospital and other upazila health complexes.
Bimal Gain of Batnatala village of Doihari union at Swarupkati upazila in Pirojpur claimed that his son Pritish, 3, died on Tuesday morning after taking the medicines.
Pirojpur civil surgeon and Swarupkati upazila medical officer, however, expressed their ignorance about the alleged Vitamin A death.
The five-member committee, formed by the government on Monday to find out whether the incidents of children falling ill was associated with the Vitamin A capsule or deworming tablets, on Tuesday visited different areas, where children died or fell sick reportedly after taking the medicines.
The head of the committee, ABM Jahangir Alam, also the primary healthcare services director, told New Age that the committee would submit its report within the 72-hour time limit.
He said that they had visited the house of Habib, 11, who died on Sunday after taking the medicines, at Doulatdia in Rajbari. They also visited Madhukhali in Faridpur.
‘But neither his parents nor the neighbours could say when and how the 11-year old boy took the Vitamin A capsule and deworming tablet. Hearing the symptoms we guess the reason for his death could be Encephalitis, not Vitamin A capsule or deworming tablet,’ he said adding that they also visited Goalanda General Hospital and took the record of suspected cases and were analyzing the reports.
The probe committee is also collecting the samples of the medicines administered on Saturday.
Health directorate sources said that initiatives had been taken to send the samples of the Vitamin A capsules to Copenhagen in Denmark for laboratory tests through the UNICEF, which supplied the medicine produced by a company in Copenhagen.
The samples of Albendazole have already been sent to Incepta Pharmaceuticals Limited, which produced and supplied the drug, asking the company to report the directorate after laboratory tests, the sources said.
Besides, the samples of both the medicines have also been sent to Institute of Epidemiology and Diseases Control Research and Drug Administration for laboratory tests, the added.
Pharmacology experts, however, demanded tests of the medicines by independent national and international laboratories.
The World Health Organisation and UNICEF offices in Bangladesh on Tuesday reassured parents that Vitamin A capsules and deworming tablets were safe for children.
In a joint statement, the WHO and UNICEF offices also asserted that the medicines were ‘effective interventions’ that would help strengthen the health of children.
‘These interventions are recommended by both organisations. Vitamin A should be given every four to six months to children aged 12 to 59 months while deworming tablets should be given every six months to children aged 24 to 59 months,’ the statement said.
It said both the medicines supplied during the recent Vitamin A campaign in Bangladesh were procured from approved pharmaceutical companies.
‘Between 2002 and 2008, Bangladesh has held eight National Immunization Days and, since 2003, six Vitamin A Plus campaigns, during which millions of children have received Vitamin A supplementation and deworming tablets in the form of Albendazole,’ they said.
‘No harmful side effects of either Vitamin A or Albendazole have been reported after any of the campaigns,’ the statement said.
According to the statement, millions of children in more than 40 countries are receiving at least one Vitamin A supplement yearly very successfully.
‘Vitamin A has no serious side effects and contributes to building the immune system, helping children to better cope with common diseases such as measles, diarrhoea and respiratory infections. Studies show that Vitamin A supplementation also helps children to grow faster, to be less anaemic, and it reduces the mortality rate,’ the statement said.
Globally Vitamin A deficiency annually claims the lives of almost 670,000 children under five. Vitamin A capsules save the lives of over 30,000 children per year in Bangladesh and reduce illness among thousands of others, the UN organisations said.
They mentioned that in Bangladesh, large scale Vitamin A supplementation had commenced in 1973, as a part of the Nutritional Blindness Prevention Programme. Bangladesh was the first country in South Asia to integrate Vitamin A supplementation of children aged 12-59 months with the NIDs in 1995, and was also one of the first countries in the world to develop the new strategy – National Vitamin A Plus campaign – that is used to deliver multiple interventions to children.
‘Both agencies are fully confident about the actions taken by the government to investigate the cases of children allegedly becoming sick after taking Vitamin A capsules and deworming tablets,’ the statement said.

Courtesy of NewAgebd