Following the deaths of two infants in the town of Qwesna parents are panicking over whether or not to have their children vaccinated. Magda El-Ghitany reports from Menoufiya As if the extreme poverty in Qwesna, a small town in the northern governorate of Menoufiya, were not enough of a burden, parents now have to overcome their fears over vaccination following the death in June of two infants, Ahmed Emad and Mariam Ashraf, after they took polio and measles vaccines. Another two infants, Mohamed Sabri and an anonymous girl, were also hospitalised in critical condition after they took the same vaccines, at the same time, in the town's small medical centre. Inevitably, rumours that the vaccines were the cause of the deaths spread across the country. Osama Abul-Fotouh, a pediatrician who followed up on Ahmed and Mariam's cases after they were inoculated, admits that there are factors that remain as yet "unexplained". A few hours after the four nine-month-old infants were inoculated against polio and measles they developed high temperatures and severe diarrhoea, Abul- Fotouh told Al-Ahram Weekly. The symptoms resembled those of acute gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines. Ahmed and Mariam died two days later, while Mohamed and the girl fell into a coma, suffering brain and skin infections, especially at the site of the injection. While the two vaccines might cause cold-like symptoms they could "under no circumstances lead to death" said Abul-Fotouh. The death of Ahmed and Mariam triggered panic among parents. "I have a six-month-old boy and now I am hesitant to give him any vaccines," Sanaa, 30, told the Weekly. Sanaa's worries are shared by many other mothers in Qwesna. Safiya, the mother of a nine-month-old girl, went to the medical centre to enquire about the hazards should her daughter skip the polio vaccine altogether. Meanwhile, the pediatrician who administrated the inoculations told the Weekly that the incident was a "one in a million fluke". Wishing to remain anonymous, and extremely hesitant to talk about the incident, she insists the vaccines could not be the cause of the deaths or sickness. "I would never hide it if there was something wrong with the vaccines, because this is a vital matter for all Egyptians," she said. "In Qwesna we have been vaccinating children of all ages for the last nine years. Since May, 7387 children have been inoculated. Nothing ever went wrong," she asserted. The pediatrician, who reported the incidents to the public medical department of Menoufiya, notes that gastroenteritis can be fatal in infants. That the deaths occurred so soon after the injections was, she said, a coincidence. Other pediatricians disagree. Both Abul-Fotouh and Hana Abul-Ghar agree that something went wrong, though the vaccine is not necessarily the main cause behind the children's sickness and death. Reactions to vaccines differ from one child to another, says Abul-Ghar, and some children may have a weak immune system. "The vaccine may or may not be the cause of the tragedy," she said. "We cannot be sure for the time being." Abul-Ghar appealed to parents not to panic. "Giving children the required vaccines is immensely important and if people start to believe that the vaccines caused the death of these children they will stop having them inoculated, and this will cause the death of thousands of children." Farag Ali Saloum, director of Qwesna's medical administration and general department of health, says the Health Ministry has already launched an investigation. "Samples were taken from everything related to the vaccines, including the walls of the medical centre," Saloum told the Weekly. "Preliminary results show that the infants died from gastroenteritis." As his infant son lies in a coma in hospital, Mohamed's father has threatened to sue the Ministry of Health: "We will not surrender the rights of our children," he said angrily. "The [Health] Ministry should pay for this." The vaccine tragedy in Qwesna is one of several recent scandals that have undermined confidence in the healthcare system. Only last month Prosecutor-General Maher Abdel-Wahed opened a case against Mohamed El-Abbadi, chairman of the Holding Company for Vaccines and Vital Products (HCVVP), at the request of Health Minister Hatem El-Gabali. El-Abbadi is charged with importing vaccines past their expiry date, and has also been implicated in the HCVVP's import of expired baby milk.
