‘Anaphylaxis rare but treatable, don’t panic’

“All clinics and hospitals that administer vaccines are prepared to treat anaphylaxis with standard drugs. Delay in diagnosis or treatment for anaphylaxis can be fatal, but everyone authorised to administer vaccine shots knows about this side effect,” said noted virologist Dr T Jacob John.

Any adverse reaction like itching, rash, swelling of tongue or lips, breathing difficulties or fall in blood pressure would usually happen within minutes of taking any vaccine and should be treated immediately. “If there is a delay in providing treatment, it could lead to fatality. So, the death after receiving the vaccine could be due to medical negligence,” added Dr John.

According to health experts, the chances of anaphylaxis after vaccination is as low as one in a million. Any serious adverse reaction would happen within 30 minutes of receiving the vaccine, while the ones that are not life-threatening would happen in an hour or two, which would give them enough time to get medical attention, they said.

Assuring that there was no need to panic, public health expert Dr K Kolandaisamy pointed out this was the first death after nearly 25 crore people in the country were inoculated. “It is likely that the deceased had some other medical condition or there was some problem with vaccine administration. We cannot assume anything right now,” he said.

Taking the vaccine is the only safety shield against the pandemic, he added.

When asked Dr TS Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, said there has not been any case of anaphylaxis in the State so far.