BENGALURU: Mystery surrounds the deaths of four-month-old twins in south Bengaluru on Friday , a day after the two girls were administered with routine immunization vaccines.

Disha and Sanvi, daughters of Lunesh and Hemalatha, residents of Bapuji Nagar, off Mysore Road, were given the second dose of polio and pentavalent vaccines at a BBMP health centre in Bapuji Nagar on Thursday. The day after, they died at their home. The postmortem report is being awaited from KIMS hospital. Along with the polio oral vaccination, the babies were also administered with pentavalent vaccine in the form of injection.

Pentavalent is five individual vaccines conjugated in one, intended to protect infants from five potentially deadly diseases: Haemophilus influenza type B (the bacteria that causes meningitis, pneumonia and otitis), whooping cough (or pertussis), tetanus, hepatitis B and diphtheria.

Lunesh has lodged a complaint with Giri Nagar police against the BBMP health centre alleging that his daughters died post vaccination.

BBMP officials say only the postmortem report would reveal facts.Dr Manoranjan Hegde, chief health officer, BBMP, "We cannot come to a conclusion on what led to their death. There was over 24 hours gap between the immunization and the death. The same vaccination was given to 38 babies. The other 36 babies are fine."

Dr Komala KR, medical officerhealth, BBMP, who visited the family, said, "The mother told us that the babies developed fever and were given medicine for it. The children had slept off. When she tried to wake them around 11.30 am on Friday , she noticed they were frothing."

WHAT MAY HAVE BEEN THE CAUSE

IMMEDIATE REACTION

Photo for representation only According to Dr Yashoda Devi, a city-based paediatrician, "If there is anaphylactic reaction (whole-body allergic reaction), it should have affected the kids in the first dosage itself. Reaction, if any, occurs within 30 minutes and not after 22 hours. It's improbable," she said, adding, "Why were the babies not taken to hospital immediately after they developed fever?"

OTHER KIDS NOT AFFECTED

Only one in 10,000 babies may develop anaphylactic reaction to vaccines, says Dr Karthik Nagesh, neonatologist and chairman of Manipal Advanced Children's Centre. "If there was any problem with the vaccination, it would have affected other 36 children too. Idiosyncratic drug reactions that are unpredictable can affect immediately. This is not a routine reaction," Dr Nagesh said, adding, "If the problem was with the drugs, the same batch supplied to other centres also would have caused issues."

REACTION IN RARE CASES

One of the components used in Pertussis drug of the Pentavalent vaccine can cause anaphylactic reaction in rare cases, said Dr Prashanth Urs, neonatologist and paediatrician at Apollo hospital. "In some patients, it can cause rapid allergic reaction, but the symptoms of fever, shock, convulsions develop with 72 hours of administering the medicine. In some cases, the fever can even go up to 104 degrees leading to death. However, I am not aware of this case," said Dr Urs.