Covid-19: Promptly flag any adverse vaccination event in teens, say experts

MUMBAI: Nearly a month into the vaccination of adolescents, reported instances of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) have been negligible and much lower than in adults. There, though, are concerns about a general lack of awareness about reporting adverse events. Experts say that while anxiety or underlying conditions could lead to unusual health events post vaccination, each one of them must be promptly reported for a thorough investigation.

A case in point is that of a 16-year-old Sangli teen who had three intermittent episodes of vomiting blood, days after he took the Covid jab at his school. The family got the boy hospitalised and spent Rs 30,000-35,000 on tests, but didn’t think of reporting the unusual episodes of vomiting to any district health or school officials. The boy was down with body ache post vaccination, but the episodes of vomiting started on the third day.

The boy’s uncle, Dhyananjay Madwanna, admitted it never occurred to them to inform the authorities, till he had a second episode. “We did not know whom to approach to report the case. We have now reported it to the district officials,” said the uncle. Dr Vivek Patil from Sangli's public health department said the boy has been diagnosed with hiatus hernia, which can lead to blood vomiting in some cases. “It is not related to the vaccine,” Patil said, adding no severe side-effects have been reported with Covaxin, but cases as such should be reported on time.

Two weeks ago, the death of a teenage girl in Mumbai four days after vaccination spurred rumours that it was linked to immunisation. While the district AEFI committee investigated and ruled out the role of vaccination in her death, the fact remains that neither the doctor who certified the death nor her parents informed the health authorities.

Dr Mukesh Agrawal, who heads Mumbai’s AEFI commi ttee, said it was imperative that parents or teachers report anything out of place. “Covaxin is no doubt a safe vaccine and we haven’t found a single severe side-effect. Having said that, it is the job of an expert committee to rule out whether or not an adverse effect is related to vaccination and to do that cases should at least reach us,” he said. “Without detailed reporting, we are often handicapped in determining causality,” he said. In Mumbai, a printed slip with numbers and names of people to contact is handed out. Still, in the teen girl’s case, no one made that call.

Across the state, most drives are happening in schools and college premises. Dr Sachin Desai, who heads the state’s immunisation department, said the AEFI rate in the 15-17 age group is negligible at 0.004%. “Teachers have been told to keep an eye and inform district officials,” he said, adding 120 AEFIs were reported out of 25 lakh doses given.