TWELVE CHILDREN DEAD

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 265, 30 January 1928, Page 1

TWELVE CHILDREN DEAD

Sequel to Inoculation

TRAGEDY IN QUEENSLAND

Five Others in Serious Condition

By Cable. —Press Association. — Copyright. Received 11.15 a.m. BRISBANE, To-day. rELVE children at Bundaberg’, ranging from babies to five years of age, are dead, and five other in a serious condition, as the result of a mysterious illness, following on then- innoculation on Friday. The Government pathologist and other medical experts are proceeding to Bundaberg from Brisbane by special train. The names of the dead children thousands of cases in all parts of the

are: Thomas Robinson, aged five; William Robinson, four; Mervyn Robinson, two; Keith Baker, three: Edward Baker, five; George B ker, two; Monica Sheppard, two; Mary Sheppard, five; Joan Peterson, five; Myrtle Brennan, three; also babies, Coate and Follett. Those in a serious condition are: Betty Peterson, Brenda Drew. John Sheppard, William Sheppard, and Ernest Docket. SEIZED WITH VIOLENT ATTACKS Two batches of children were successfully inoculated, and the third batch was dealt with on Friday. The victims showed no ill-effects till Friday night, when they were seized with violent attacks of vomiting and diorrhoea. The parents were not really concerned, thinking the illness merely the customary result of inoculation. The attacks continued throughout the night and in the morning, Dr. Thompson was summoned to the home of one of the children. He found the child dangerously ill and ordered its immediate removal to the hospital, and, realising that something was amiss, rallied other medical officers of Die city and sent them to attend to the other chilren. Ambulances were called out and spent the rest of the morning hurrying patients off to hospital, where everything was prepared for their reception. The doctors left nothing to chance, even those children who showed no ill effects were removed to hospital for observation. Dr. Elkington, Director of Tropical Hygiene In the Commonwealth Department of Health, says that the action of toxin and antitoxin in the case of affected children was utterly abnormal. He says that no similar instance so far as he is aware, has been recorded anywhere, despite the use of this method in many hundreds of

world. The outstanding fact which appeared so far, Dr. Elkinton continued, has been that a number of children were inoculated between January 17 and 24 without suffering any ill effects, and that only those who were inoculated on January 27 from the same batch of material became ill.

Some of these had already received one injection of it, but only became ill after the second injection. Others became very ill sood after tlaeir first injection. This indicated clearly enough that the material as received contained no harmful agency, and did not contain any for at least a week after it was received at Bundaberg. Arrangements have been made for the recall of a particular batch from which the sufferers were inoculated and to discontinue the issue ot antitoxin material for the present, pending a full investigation.—A. and N.Z.