According to the Union Health Ministry statistics, obtained by Right to Information Act, there were 128 children who died due to adverse effects after immunization (AEFI).
Of these 128 deaths, 28 were from Maharashtra, 18 from Uttar Pradesh, 11 from Andhra Pradesh and 8 from Tamil Nadu.
More and more children in India are dying every year immediately after being vaccinated. And surprisingly, the government is not at all aware of the causes for these deaths. AEFI is a comprehensive term, which includes various reasons such as bad quality of vaccine due to breaks in the cold chain, complications due to pre-existing conditions in the child and contamination.
The death count has been increasing rapidly, from 32 in 2007, to 111 in 2008, to 116 in 2009 and 128 in 2010. The government has very vaguely stated that lack of diligence and carelessness may be the reasons, as they are not sure if the deaths are occurring only due to vaccines.
The deaths due to AEFI in 2008 were three times the deaths in 2007 and this is only when the government started procuring vaccine from private sector units. Till 2007, it procured from public sector vaccine units only.
These 128 deaths were categorized based on various reasons – 72 deaths as unknown, 48 as coincidental, 4 due to vaccine reaction and 2 due to injection reaction and program error.
Source: Times of India