Parents assured vaccine safe after death of Hong Kong infant
- Infant was immunised at maternal and child health centre on Monday, but was found unresponsive at Sha Tin home a day later
Parents have been urged not to worry about a child vaccine following the death of an infant who was inoculated a day earlier.
Police said an autopsy would be carried out to determine the cause of the 18-month-old boy’s death on Tuesday.
The child’s parents told police he was given the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine at a maternal and child health centre on Monday, but the Department of Health confirmed he had received a booster dose for diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis and inactivated poliovirus vaccine.
Paediatrician Dr Anthony Ng Wing-keung said on Wednesday he had not heard of any serious adverse reactions relating to the vaccine locally. He said the jab was very safe and parents had no need to panic.
The health authorities also said most children would not have adverse reactions after receiving the vaccine.
The case came to light after police received a report just after 7am on Tuesday from a woman who had found her son unresponsive at their house in Wong Nai Tau Village, Sha Tin.
The child was sent to nearby Prince of Wales Hospital, where he was later certified dead.