TWELVE DEATHS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 93, 30 January 1928, Page 5

TWELVE DEATHS

FOLLOWING INOCULATION. CHILDREN IN QUEENSLAND. ANTI-DIPHTHERIA SERUM. (Pei- Press Association—Copy! ight 7 BRISBANE, January 29. Following inoculation under the Government scheme to provide immunisation against diphtheria., 12 children died and six others were sent to hospital at Bundaberg in a serious condition. The serum was supplied by the Federal Health Department and the inoculations carried out at the City Council Chambers. , ■ , The first two batches were treated successfully, but children in later batches became ill and were rushed to hospital, where eleven died. Six others are not expected to recover. The ages of the dead range from fifteen months to six years. The Government has ordered individual postmortems.

THE DEATH-ROLL. (Received This Day, 11.16 a.m.) BRISBANE, January 30. The names of the dead at Bundaberg are: Thomas Robinson, aged five; William Robinson, aged four: Mervyn Robinson, aged two; Keith Baker, aged three: Edward Baker, aged five; George Baker, aged two; Monica Sheppard, aged twoj Mary Sheppard aged five; Joan Peterson, aged five; Myrtle Brennan, aged three; also babies named Coate and Follet. Those in a serious condition are. Betty Peterson, Brenda Drew, Jtmn Sheppard, William Sheppara and Ernest Docfee. OTHER CHILDREN ESCAPE. A MYSTERIOUS CASE. (Received This Day, 10.59. a.m.) BRISBANE, This Day. The Government Pathologist and other medical experts are proceeding to Bundaberg from Brisbane in a special train. Two batches of children were successfully inoculated, the third batch being dealt with on Friday. The victims showed no ill effects till Friday night, when they were seized with violent attacks of vomiting and diarrhoea. Their parents were not really concerned, thinking the illness was merely the customary result of inoculation. The attacks continued throughout the night. • , la the morning Dr. Thompson, who was summoned to the home of one or the children, found the child dangerously ill He ordered: its immediate removal to the hospital, and, realising that something was amiss, rallied tne other medical men of the city! andsent them to attend other children. Ihe ambulances were called out, and spent the rest of the morning hurrying; patients to the hospital, where everything was prepared for their reception. T3ie doctors left nothing to chance. Even those children who showed no ill effects were removed to the hospital for observation. . -Dr. Elkiugtoh (Director of Tropical Hygiene in the Commonwealth Health Department), said the action of toxinantitoxin in the case of the affected children was utterly abnormal. He says that no similar instance, as far as he is aware, has been recorded, anywhere despite the use of this—method in many hundreds of thousands of cases in all parts of the worldVThe outstanding i fact which appeared so far, Dr. Elkington continued, had been that a number of children had been inoculated! between January 17 and January 24 without suffering any ill effects, and that only those who were inoculated on January 27 from the same batch of material became ill. Some of these had already received' one injection, but became ill only after the second injection. Otehrs became very ill soon after their first injection. This indicated clearly enough that the material as received contained no harmful agency, and did not contain any for at least a week after it was received at Bundaberg. Arrangements had been made for the recall of the particular batch from which the sufferers were inoculated, and to discontinue the issue of antitoxin material for the present, pending a full investigation.