The government has recently instructed health authorities in the northern province of Thai Nguyen to carry out an investigation into a case where 18 babies suddenly turned black and blue after receiving antibiotic injections late last month.
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Any violations of professional practice must be strictly punished, the government told the Thai Nguyen Health Department.
On April 21, an hour after 55 babies received injections at Dai Tu District General Hospital, 18 of them, between three months and four years old, developed symptoms including fever and livid skin coloration.
Two of them suffered respiratory difficulties.
Doctors provided emergency treatment. Most of the babies have recovered and been discharged, the doctors said.
In the meantime, Thai Nguyen’s Health Department has collected the empty containers of the antibiotics that the babies were injected.
The drugs will be sent for testing at central agencies. Unused ones of the same batch were withdrawn as well.
The department\'s initial conclusion was that the coloration was not caused by the babies’ response to the antibiotics as they were administered in accordance with instructions and technical procedures
