Editorial

Pain as two-month baby's hand, foot amputated after botched vaccination

First time parents Peter Gitonga, and his wife Leah Waithira are trying to come to terms with the loss of their son’s arm and leg. According to the parents, their

  • PublishedApril 11, 2019

First time parents Peter Gitonga, and his wife Leah Waithira are trying to come to terms with the loss of their son’s arm and leg.

According to the parents, their two-month old boy received a BCG injection at Kihara Hospital in Kiambu which allegedly led to him losing his left hand and right foot.

Speaking to the Nation  Waithera reveals how she noticed her son struggling to breath and refused to breastfeed after the injection. She also noted the spot where her baby had been injected was cold and numb.

Waithera and her husband rushed their baby to a clinic but were told to return to the hospital where the baby was vaccinated.

“The doctor pricked one of the fingers in the left hand but there was no blood. He used the same needle to prick a toe in the right foot, and after the test he informed us that the sugar level was too low, and that the baby was dehydrated. He insisted that the baby be admitted,” said Waithera

The following day, part of the baby’s left hand had turned dark blue and Waithera informed a nurse at the hospital who told her to notify the doctor on duty. By 2:00 pm, the condition had replicated itself on the baby’s right foot.

After some tests, doctors diagnosed the baby with neonatal sepsis, and referred them to Kiambu Level Five Hospital for advanced treatment. They were later referred to a paediatric surgeon at Kenyatta National Hospital were baby Austin was treated for one and a half months.

The affected limbs began to swell with fluid  and later on started rotting leading to amputation so as to prevent the infection from spreading.

Doctors at Kihara Hospital in Gachie, Kiambu County have refuted claims that it was the vaccine that caused complications. Baby Austin’s parents think otherwise.

The parents who reside in Ndenderu village, Kiambu are now devastated and at a loss for words.

“The child will ask us questions regarding what happened to his hand and foot but we will never have good answers for him. The baby has been condemned to disability because there are things he will never be able to do,” lamented Gitonga.

Written By