Over 200 kids fall sick

Over 200 more children fell sick in the last two days in Natore, Jhenidah and Faridpur after taking government-supplied Vitamin-A capsules and deworming tablets.

Meantime, Health Minister Dr AFM Ruhul Haque ruled out all doubts about the quality of the Vitamin-A capsules and deworming tablets taking which over a hundred children fell sick in Faridpur and other districts.

Our Natore correspondent reports: About 200 children were taken to the Singra Hospital with vomiting tendency and stomachache after they took Vitamin-A capsules and deworming tablets in Singra upazila.

However, only 16 of them were admitted to the hospital while the rest were released after giving treatment.

Our correspondent from Jhenidah adds: At least 33 children fell ill on Saturday after taking the medicines. They were admitted to the Jhenidah Sadar Hospital.

Some of them had been released after receiving treatment, said Civil Surgeon Niranjan Kumar Sikdar.

Our Faridpur correspondent reports: At least 10 more children fell sick in several areas in the district after taking Vitamin-A capsules and deworming tablets. Of them, six were admitted to the Faridpur General Hospital and two to the Nagarkanda Health Complex.

Our correspondent from Magura adds: several hundred parents thronged the Magura Sadar Hospital for check-up of their children on Saturday following the rumour of deaths of a few children in Faridpur, Jhenidah and Rajbari.

Meanwhile, the health minister in a statement said the Vitamin-A capsules were manufactured by a renowned Canadian pharmaceutical company and certified by the World Health Organization (WHO). The expiry date of the capsules was 2012.

The deworming tablets with validity till 2010 were supplied directly by the UNICEF, said the minister.

He said the Vitamin-A campaign has been going on successfully in the country for the last three decades.

The minister assured that the capsules are by no means harmful to children and requested the parents not to panic.

While talking to the electronic media in the afternoon the minister said about 2,521 children in some remote areas of Charbhadrasan upazila in Faridpur were given Vitamin-A capsules and deworming tablets on June 4.

Of them, 29 in a particular area got admitted to the District Sadar Hospital with diarrhoea and vomiting tendency.

Quoting the district health officials the minister said examining the facts it could be easily understood that the sickness was caused not only by the side effects of the capsules but also malnutrition, excessive heat and environmental reasons.

Moreover, the area had experienced an outbreak of diarrhoea for the last few days.

The children, who fell ill after having Vitamin-A capsules and deworming tablets, received treatment at various hospitals in Faridpur, Sirajganj, Jhenidah, Madaripur, Magura and Natore, Directorate General of Health Services said, adding that most of them had already been released.