Medics carrying out a measles vaccination in northern Syria instead administered an anaesthetic to up to 75 infants, killing 15, a preliminary investigation into their deaths has found.
The report says an anaesthetic, atracuriam, which is used as a muscle relaxant in surgery was given to the infants, perhaps mixed with the measles vaccine, which had been delivered by aid agencies conducting a mass vaccination program in opposition parts of northern Syria.
The error is believed to have occurred because the packaging of the anaesthetic drug was similar to that of the solution used to mix the measles vaccination.
The drug is usually fatal when given to infants in the doses administered, but older children can survive low dosages due to their higher body weights. The fatalities occurred in children between 6 and 18 months.
The children all presented symptoms within half an hour of being given the drug and were suffering from diarrhoea, shock and respiratory failure. Most of the fatalities were dead before they reached a hospital, according to a local activist.
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