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Fake vaccines may cause infection : Expert
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A factory producing fake vaccines was discovered in Tangerang on Wednesday. (Shutterstock/-)
T
he discovery of a factory producing fake vaccines in Tangerang, Wednesday, raised a red flag for parents across the country. A fake vaccine will not protect a child against disease.
The most severe risk faced by children exposed to a fake vaccine is infection, according to Vaccinologist Dirga Sakti Rambe. This could happen because the manufacturing process for fake vaccines is unlikely to follow required procedure and may be unhygienic, he said.
“There can be germ contamination in a non-sterile production process. If a germ-infected solution is injected into the body, the vaccine recipient can get an infection,” the vaccine expert told kompas.com.
(Read also: Police uncover fake vaccine syndicate)
Symptoms of such an infection include high fever, rapid blood pulse, breathing difficulty and loss of appetite. If a child has a fever after vaccination but no other symptoms parents don’t need to worry because some vaccines cause a child to present with a fever, Dirga said.
If a child was vaccinated within the past two weeks and hasn’t presented with any of the aforementioned symptoms, the child is unlikely to have an infection, Dirga said.
“The Police Forensic Laboratory (Puslabfor) must investigate the substances contained in the fake vaccines. From these results, we will be able to begin to investigate any public reports due to vaccination, whether people suffer from infection symptoms or not,” Dirga stated.
(Read also: Signs to look out for in fake vaccines)
On Wednesday, the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim Polri) raided a fake vaccine factory in Tangerang and discovered fake measles, polio, BCG, tetanus and hepatitis B vaccines.
Five suspects are under investigation. (asw)
