A five-member team of Ministry of Health arrived in Assam’s Baksa region and started its investigation following administration of measles vaccines that is suspected to have resulted into death of four infants.

The State government, however, said no to the allegations that the infants’ deaths were caused because of botched vaccines.

The government declared ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh to parent of each of the four babies, who died after receiving the vaccines in four different villages under Nimua Public Health Centre of the district.

Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, State Health Minister, said that the government was sure that deaths had not been caused by measles vaccines given to them.

Dr. Sarma also said that he had consulted around 50 child specialists in this regard and each of them had categorically assured him that vaccines could not result in death as they were not toxic and they were meant to defend children.

He also said the WHO-certified measles vaccines were manufactured by the Human Biological Institute, a subsidiary of the Hyderabad-based Indian Immunological Limited, and they had no past history of causing death to human beings.

Aside from the group appointed by the health ministry, the State government has also rushed its own three-member group chaired by Head of Paediatrics Department of Gauhati Medical College and Hospital J.N. Sarma to the region.