One child dies after polio vaccination in Bihar

A child died and six others fell ill on Saturday in Bihar's Vaishali district after allegedly being administered polio drops, an official said.

The incident occurred in Shahpur village near Hajipur, district headquarters of Vaishali, about 25 km from here, where children aged upto five were administered polio drops on Friday.

Vaishal civil surgeon Ramashish Kumar has ordered a probe into the incident. "I have asked the concerned officials to ascertain whether incident is connected to the polio vaccine or not," he said.

"Some children fell ill after being administered polio vaccine and one died Saturday morning," said Mukesh Singh, a close relative of one of the six children admitted to Sadar hospital for treatment.

Singh said that children developed fever and suffered from vomiting and diarrhoea after being given the polio vaccine.

Bihar has remained polio-free for over four years, thanks to the state government's commitment supported by development partners in the polio eradication programme.

India was declared polio-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2014 after no case was detected since 2011