<p>A controversy has erupted over Delhi government’s mass de-worming drive after a parent claimed that the medicine had paralysed his child.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Doctors refute the claim but the child's father maintains that the de-worming exercise is the cause of his son’s condition.<br /><br />“My son went to the school in normal condition. After the de-worming drug was given to him, he started vomiting and became unconscious,” said Rajesh Chaudhary father of Prashant Chadudhary, the 14-year-old admitted at G B Pant Hospital. <br /><br />“The school teacher called me and we took him to the hospital,” he added.<br /><br />Prashant was first taken to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital. Then he was referred to G B Pant due to his serious condition.<br /><br />An MRI scan of the class 5 student at Sarvodaya Secondary School, Mangolpuri, showed that the right side of his brain had some damage which caused paralysis on the left, including the arm and the leg.<br /><br />Doctors deny<br />While Chaudhary blamed the de-worming drug given on Monday in a city-wide exercise, doctors at G B Pant Hospital said there is no connection between the two.<br /><br />“The medical history of Prashant shows that he has had some problems in the brain for a long time, said Dr A P Dubey head of pediatrics department, G B Pant Hospital. <br /><br />“It is a mere coincidence that he had the paralytic attack on the day of Delhi government’s de-worming exercise,” he added. <br /><br />The medicine administered is not known to cause any serious side-effects, he added.<br />“Nearly 340 children complained of minor ailments like nausea and pain in abdomen after taking the medicine. But that is common,” said Dr Dubey. <br /><br />He also refuted the claim that 500 miligram of the medicine is a very high dose.<br /><br />Varied dosage<br />“If a child is being individually treated for worms, she is given 100 miligram of dosage for three days, whereas in a mass exercise, is 500 miligram. This is done according to the World Health Organisation’s norms,” said Dr Dubey.<br /><br />Experts also said the previous history of a child is usually not an issue while giving the medicine.<br /><br />“It is ideal to ask for previous history while giving any medicine. But the medicine for de-worming does not interfere in other treatments. It can cause minor problems, but not serious ones,” said Dr Mahaveer Jain of Indian Academy of Paediatrics, Gurgaon chapter. <br /><br /> The de-worming drive is part of the government’s Chacha Nehru Sehat Yojna. As part of the initiative around 35 lakh preschool and school age children were given a chewable tablet. <br /><br />The initiative was launched by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on February 20. A mop up will be conducted on Monday.<br /><br /></p>
<p>A controversy has erupted over Delhi government’s mass de-worming drive after a parent claimed that the medicine had paralysed his child.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Doctors refute the claim but the child's father maintains that the de-worming exercise is the cause of his son’s condition.<br /><br />“My son went to the school in normal condition. After the de-worming drug was given to him, he started vomiting and became unconscious,” said Rajesh Chaudhary father of Prashant Chadudhary, the 14-year-old admitted at G B Pant Hospital. <br /><br />“The school teacher called me and we took him to the hospital,” he added.<br /><br />Prashant was first taken to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital. Then he was referred to G B Pant due to his serious condition.<br /><br />An MRI scan of the class 5 student at Sarvodaya Secondary School, Mangolpuri, showed that the right side of his brain had some damage which caused paralysis on the left, including the arm and the leg.<br /><br />Doctors deny<br />While Chaudhary blamed the de-worming drug given on Monday in a city-wide exercise, doctors at G B Pant Hospital said there is no connection between the two.<br /><br />“The medical history of Prashant shows that he has had some problems in the brain for a long time, said Dr A P Dubey head of pediatrics department, G B Pant Hospital. <br /><br />“It is a mere coincidence that he had the paralytic attack on the day of Delhi government’s de-worming exercise,” he added. <br /><br />The medicine administered is not known to cause any serious side-effects, he added.<br />“Nearly 340 children complained of minor ailments like nausea and pain in abdomen after taking the medicine. But that is common,” said Dr Dubey. <br /><br />He also refuted the claim that 500 miligram of the medicine is a very high dose.<br /><br />Varied dosage<br />“If a child is being individually treated for worms, she is given 100 miligram of dosage for three days, whereas in a mass exercise, is 500 miligram. This is done according to the World Health Organisation’s norms,” said Dr Dubey.<br /><br />Experts also said the previous history of a child is usually not an issue while giving the medicine.<br /><br />“It is ideal to ask for previous history while giving any medicine. But the medicine for de-worming does not interfere in other treatments. It can cause minor problems, but not serious ones,” said Dr Mahaveer Jain of Indian Academy of Paediatrics, Gurgaon chapter. <br /><br /> The de-worming drive is part of the government’s Chacha Nehru Sehat Yojna. As part of the initiative around 35 lakh preschool and school age children were given a chewable tablet. <br /><br />The initiative was launched by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on February 20. A mop up will be conducted on Monday.<br /><br /></p>
