Pneumonia, Not Deworming Pill Killed 8-year-old: Health Ministry

The health ministry released a statement that the deworming pill didn’t claim the life of the young girl.

Bihar Health Minister Tej Pratap administers a chewable albendazole 400 mg chewable tablet to school girls during inauguration of National Deworming Day in Patna on 10 February. (Photo: PTI)

Dismissing reports that the recent death of a girl in Uttarakhand was due to side effects of a pill administered during a national deworming drive, the Health Ministry Tuesday said it was pneumonia which caused the death and asserted that the drug was “safe and effective”.

More than 200 children were taken to hospitals in Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana and Chhattisgarh when they complained of uneasiness after being administered Albendazole tablets on the National Deworming Day, 10 February.

The Health Ministry said a report submitted by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) has “clearly negated” that the death was due to side effects of Albendazole, a deworming tablet.

School children admitted to Civil Hospital after health officials gave them deworming tablets, Alpondazol in Bihar. (Photo: PTI)

The report from the district CMO submitted to the Ministry has clearly negated this causal relationship, terming the deworming drug as safe and effective.

<b>Health Ministry</b>

According to the report, the eight-year-old child had been admitted to the Sushila Tiwari hospital at Haldwani on 13 February 2016 at 1:21 am with status epilepticus (epilepsy) with shock, aspiratory pneumonia and was in a critical state.

This has also been stated to be the cause of the death of the child. The symptoms depicted by the child are not produced as a side effect of the drug Albendazole tablet, the report has noted.

<b>Health Ministry </b>

Following this, Uttarakhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) had taken suo motu cognizance of the death and also issued a notice to the director of Health Department seeking a detailed report on the matter, reports said.

People rush school children to hospital, after they fell ill eating deworming tablets. (Photo: PTI)

Albendazole 400 mg is a safe and effective drug for the treatment of parasitic worms. It is approved by the World Health Organization for treatment of worms and used globally. I want to assure the parents that there is no need to worry or panic. None of the cases reported were serious.All of them are being closely monitored. It was a huge programme where around 27 crore children were given deworming tablets.

<b> JP Nadda, Health Minister</b>

The Ministry claims it to be the largest-ever single-day public health drive in the world, targeting approximately 27 crore children aged between one and 19 years throughout the country who are at a risk of parasitic worm infection. It was carried out through schools and anganwadi centres.