THE Department of Health (DOH)-Central Visayas plans to request for an autopsy on the body of an infant in Mandaue City who died a day after getting vaccinated.
Dr. Jaime Bernadas, DOH-Central Visayas director, said they are scheduled to visit the infant’s family on Monday, December 16.
He said they could coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation regarding the autopsy.
Crisela Toniacao and Johnnel Abello, the infant’s parents, claimed on Thursday, December 12, that their one month and 25-day-old daughter fell ill after she was given the oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) through drops in the mouth and the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) that was injected in both of her legs at the Eversley Childs Sanitarium and General Hospital in Barangay Jagobiao, Mandaue City.
The parents said the nurse who administered the vaccines allegedly did not sanitize their daughter’s legs before the injection and was busy with his phone. The infant was vaccinated on December 4. She died the next day.
The parents filed a blotter report at the Opao Police Station, stating that their daughter was healthy and did not show any sign of distress before she was brought to the Eversley hospital.
Bernadas said they’ve already received the initial report submitted by the Eversley hospital, but he would prefer to wait for the result of the investigation being conducted by the team he sent to gather facts.
The team, composed of DOH-Central Visayas' Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (Resu) personnel, is led by Dr. Jonathan Neil Erasmo, local health support division head.
Erasmo said he already visited Eversley, Amosup Seamen’s Hospital and Maayo Medical. It was at Maayo Medical where the couple first brought their unresponsive daughter on Thursday morning, December 5, before bringing her to Amosup Seamen’s Hospital.
Bernadas said the public, especially parents, should not panic and doubt vaccination. There has been no reported death due to the polio vaccine, he added.
Meanwhile, Toniacao and Abello said they will file a lawsuit against Eversley if they can’t find any justice after the investigation on their daughter’s death.
Last Friday, December 13, the DOH-Central Visayas launched an investigation to determine the real cause of death of the couple’s daughter.
Abello said he was grateful that authorities were looking into the incident, adding that he and his partner were willing to cooperate.
However, if the results of the investigation won’t convince them or put their minds at ease, he said they will proceed with the lawsuit.
Abello said he has been talking to their lawyer.
“Unsa man diay ilang ganahan? Wala nalay kaso? Kung sa ila kaha nga anak mahitabo, mudawat diay kaha sila nga wala lang? Wala man gani sila nihatag kung unsa ilang side,” Abello said.
(What do they want? We forget about the case? What if it happened to their child, would they accept it like nothing had happened? Eversley Hospital didn’t even give its side on the matter.)
In a separate interview, Mandaue City Councilor Nerissa Soon-Ruiz said the local health board and the investigating team will convene on Tuesday, December 17, to discuss the infant’s death. (WBS, KFD)