Medical experts here claim that a break in the cold chain storage would have been the cause behind the tragic incident that took place after administration of tetanus vaccine to many school children in Kozhikode a month back.

They say that a large number of doses of the vaccine were stored in the regional medical store after receiving it from the central government. From there, the vaccine stocks were also distributed to other regions like Wynad, Kannur and Kasargode, but no children became sick there.

According to an expert, "This immunization programme is conducted by the government under the WHO scheme and the medicine and syringe were supplied by the Government. These vaccines that were used had to be stored at a minimum of 2 degrees centigrade and maximum of 8 degree centigrade and this has to be ensured right from the manufacturing to the administration of the vaccine. But many places have no proper storage facilities and there is no proper system to educate the people on the issue. If the cold chain is not maintained, the potency of the vaccine reduces and the toxicity increases. If this incident has to occur in Kozhikode alone, then there would definitely have been some storage problem,"

He said that moreover the experts would not have handled the vaccines and this was evident from the fact that the people suspended owing to the incident were clerical staff and non - technical staff. "The pharmacists should have handled the vaccine as they know the technical factors and the significance of cold storage. But I think it has not been so," said the expert.

Speaking about the samples that were sent to CRI in Himachal Pradesh, he said that the samples were probably taken from the batch that arrived in Calicut and not from the spot "Thousands of doses arrive in each batch and no incidents have occurred in other places. So there is no point in taking the samples from the batch, it should be taken from the spot of the incident. The authorities have no idea in how to proceed to locate the proper course of action," he said. When asked whether the break in storage would have happened from the manufacturers side, he said that it could not have happened as the government strictly directs them to maintain the cold chain.

Speaking about the high-level team that had been formed, he said that they were all doctors and not technical people like biotechnology people, genetic engineers, people from the pharmaceutical industry etc. "It is okay to have the doctors probe into the symptoms, but only an expert can link the incident and the cause. There is no point in investigating in two directions."

Meanwhile, sources in the Drug Control Department, said that a similar incident had occurred in Nilambur in Kerala and the officials are enquiring into the issue also.

As pharmabiz had earlier reported, the Tetanus Vaccine (adsorbed) IP 5 ml batch no TT 5095 23 A, manufactured by Mumbai based Biopharmaceutical limited was administered on around 321 students at National Higher Secondary School in Vattoli, Kozhikode, of which nearly 35 children reportedly fell sick. The Drug Control officials are probing into the issue.