KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Kashmir’s Director Health Dr Sameer Mattoo said there is not a single case of death reported across Kashmir in case of kids who were administered polio drops on Sunday. These are all wild rumours, he said.
Asked if there are any side-effects, Dr Mattoo said in certain cases it may lead to some fever which is not fatal. He requested parents not to panic and do not become victim of rumours.
Parents with their kids are still thronging hospitals across Kashmir. In certain peripheral hospitals where there was no medical staff present, section of parents have gone violent also.
Civil society has strongly reacted against the inability of the state health department in not making people aware immediately. “They should have hired vehicles in their areas and told people not to panic,” Ghulam Mohammad, a Shopian resident said.
Officials said their staff was already in the field and they did whatever was possible. “It was just a massive rumour that spread like wildfire,” one official said. “Our CMOs and BMOs are all in the field and assuring people not to panic.”
Experts say that anti-polio vaccine is apparently harmless. Even if it is expired, it does not trigger any crisis.
