The Vietnamese Ministry of Health has ruled out concerns about BCG vaccine, which protects against tuberculosis and was administered this month to three infants in the northern region of Vietnam, who died soon afterward. Investors have yet to find a causal link between the vaccine and the tragic deaths, said Dr. Tran Dac Phu, head of the ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department. Dr. Phu noted that the babies may have died from acute pneumonia brought on by a dramatic cold snap. Three infants in Vietnam were reported dead around 20 hours after having been injected with BCG vaccine, triggering concerns about the side effects and risks of vaccinations as many related infant deaths have occurred recently. Phuong Van Lieu, 44 days old, in the northern province of Bac Kan was the latest victim as he died 18 hours after being given a BCG vaccine on Nov 10 while another 12-day-old boy in Thanh Hoa province had died three days earlier in a similar way. On Nov 6, a two-month-old girl in the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau also died after some complications in vaccination. The BCG vaccine is produced by Vietnam’s Institute of Vaccine and Medical Biologicals. Vietnam has become one of the countries that are able to produce 11 out of 12 vaccines used in the expanded immunization program that has been carried out in Vietnam for nearly three decades. Fatal complications brought on by vaccines have made national headlines in Vietnam in recent years. Dr. Phu earlier said that Vietnam is possibly the second only to Yemen in terms of reports of vaccine-related infant deaths. The most deadly vaccine scandal pertained to the South Korean-produced five-in-one Quinvaxem which had been administered to over ten infants who died soon after receiving their injections. Vietnam’s health experts and the World Health Organization have both insisted that the Quinvaxem vaccine, which is used in low-income countries, is fine. (Thanh Nien – Young People Nov 16)
