State asked to file report

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the state to file a report on the death of an infant, allegedly after receiving the state-mandated vaccination.A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice A M Shaffique passed the order while considering a petition filed by A N Shajila of Thiruvananthapuram, seeking a directive to ban the pentavalent vaccine in Kerala.The court made it clear that the state should find and inform the court about the exact reason for the infant’s death. The petitioner argued that she had given birth to a girl child on October 18 last year.According to the compulsory vaccination policy, the child was given the mandatory pentavalent vaccine within 57 days of birth.However, the child had infected fever soon after the vaccination and it died the following day.The petitioner submitted that the postmortem examination had revealed hypersensitivity reaction as the cause of death.A similar petition filed by P G  Hari, a homeopathy doctor from Wayanad and president of the Jankeeya Manushyavakasa Samrakhana Prasthanam, is also pending before the court.