Boy given mother’s shot – Nurse showcaused for mix-up in anti-rabies injection

A mute child was administered an anti-rabies injection meant for his mother for a cat bite at Pasteur Institute, Tangra, on Tuesday.

The careless nurse, Rina Singha Ray, has been showcaused by the health department. “I have sought her (the nurse’s) reply by tomorrow, after which further action will be taken,” said Biswa Ranjan Satpathi, the state’s director of health services.

The incident comes just three days after chief minister Mamata Banerjee asked all nurses to exercise caution. “Be extremely careful while administering injections,” Mamata, who is also the health minister, had said at Swastha Bhavan.

Instances of negligence are common in government hospitals. On November 2 last year, a woman was allegedly cleaned with acid instead of an antiseptic solution soon after delivering a stillborn at Lalbag hospital in Murshidabad. A nurse at SSKM Hospital had allegedly administered an injection meant for an accident victim to a patient in the next bed in July 2008. The victim died the next morning.

Experts, however, allayed fears of any side effects in Tuesday’s case. “It’s a safe drug and there is no side effect. Even medical personnel working in anti-rabies departments are given the vaccine as a precaution,” Satpathi said.

Critical care expert Subrata Maitra seconded him. “The anti-rabies vaccine doesn’t have any side effects except, in very rare cases, an allergy.”

But health department officials admitted such careless acts could prove deadly. “Had it been a high dose of antibiotic, the boy could have suffered severe reactions. The nurse should have waited for the child’s mother to arrive,” said a health official.

Renu Debi Sahu, 30, a resident of Kamardanga in Tangra, went to the state-run hospital after she suffered bruises inflicted by a cat. “When I told a didi (nurse) about my injury, she asked me to get a ticket from the outpatient department,” Renu said.

She left her six-year-old son Dibakar, who had accompanied her to the hospital, seated at the nursing station. She returned to find Dibakar crying.

When Renu asked her son what was wrong, the boy pointed at his right arm. “I asked the nurse what had happened and she told me the vaccine had already been administered,” Renu said.

The scared mother reported the matter to the hospital authorities and lodged a complaint with the Entally police.

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