2 babies die, 29 sickened from bad vaccines in south Mexico

[Jesus Malverde]

Mexico's public health system has suspended infant vaccines and mounted an investigation after two babies died and 29 were sickened in an impoverished community in southern Mexico.

Six of the 29 babies are in grave condition after receiving vaccinations for tuberculosis, rotovirus and Hepatitis B, which are generally administered between 0 and 6 months, according to a national schedule. The cause of the adverse reactions is not known, the Mexican Institute for Social Security said Sunday.

The institute said it stopped vaccines nationwide on Saturday as a precaution.

The Rev. Marcelo Perez, a Roman Catholic priest, told The Associated Press that families of the babies said they became sick within hours. The adverse reactions started Friday and the babies were being treated in a hospital in Simojovel, Chiapas, where 93 percent of the people live in poverty, 69 percent in extreme poverty, according to government statistics.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/medical/article/2-babies-die-29-sickened-from-bad-vaccines-in-6254645.php

[mainer]

1. The timing of this is very puzzling

The fact they got sick and died within hours of receiving the vaccines sounds like a toxin, not infection. The vaccine was for TB/Rotavirus/HepB. I would think, if the vaccines were contaminated with live virus/bacteria, it would take longer for the children to get sick and die.

Too bad the parents aren't allowing autopsies. This really ties the hands of investigators.

[leftofcool]

2. Are there not some bacteria/virus that can kill rather quickly?

I have no medical background at all which is why I ask. As well, could a live virus that might take a week to kill an adult, take a few hours to kill a baby?

[mainer]

3. It would take time for a virus to replicate

to kill a baby within a few hours of infection seems rather rapid to me.

Consider the incubation times for common infections:



The minimum (for influenza) is 1 - 2 days.

These babies got sick and died within hours.

[SidDithers]

4. Mexico says vaccine not to blame for baby deaths

Mexican health authorities on Tuesday said a bacteria was responsible for the deaths last weekend of two babies and for sickening 29 others—not a vaccine as initially feared.

The children became sick after getting shots against Hepatitis B in the indigenous town of Simojovel, southern Chiapas state.

"The fault is not on vaccines that were defective or medically bad," said Jose Antonio Gonzalez, director general of the IMSS national public health care system.

"The contamination comes from outside. Certain bacterias have been found," he said. "We have yet to determine the type of bacteria and origin of the external contamination."

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-05-mexico-vaccine-blame-baby-deaths.html

Mexico says bacteria contaminated vaccine blamed in deaths of 2 babies, sickening of 31

MEXICO CITY — Mexico's public health system says a localized bacterial contamination appears to have been responsible for infant vaccine causing the deaths of two babies and the sickening of 31.

The Mexican Institute for Social Security said late Tuesday that 14 babies remain hospitalized, with four of them in grave condition.

The vaccinations for tuberculosis, rotovirus and hepatitis B were administered at a clinic in the impoverished Indian village of La Pimienta in the township of Simojovel in Mexico's southern state of Chiapas.

The agency said tests revealed the presence of several bacteria in the vaccine used, but it did not identify them. It said the bacteria were consistent with the babies' illnesses.

The institute said the vaccines themselves were safe, and it is investigating how the contamination occurred.

http://www.startribune.com/mexico-says-bacteria-contaminated-vaccine-blamed-in-2-deaths/303654341/


Thought an update was needed.

Sid

[mainer]

5. One theory is that the vaccine was fine; the dilution fluid (added later) was the problem.

Also, that it wasn't the bacteria so much as the toxin produced by the bacteria -- this would explain the rapid onset of symptoms and death.

[SidDithers]

6. That makes sense...nt

Sid