12 Kids Fall Ill After Getting Antibiotic Injections
Medical officials fault parents for taking them away before treatment
By : P. Srinivas
Update: 2025-11-15 18:42 GMT
Nalgonda: About 12 children fell sick after being administered antibiotic injections by the staff of Kamala Nehru Area Hospital at Nagarjunasagar in Nalgonda district. The medical officer informed higher officials that the children became ill after leaving the hospital without permission.
Over the last three days, 21 children were admitted to the paediatric ward with viral fever. Of them, nurses administered the antibiotic injection Monocef to 17 children at around 9 pm on Friday. The parents, who are residents of Nagarjunasagar, took 12 of these children home citing inconvenience in staying at the hospital during the night and returned with them on Saturday morning. When the children developed vomiting and severe abdominal pain, the parents brought them back to the hospital after 10.15 pm for treatment. The children were then admitted and treated by paediatric doctors.
Hospital superintendent K. Bhanu Prasad Naik said Monocef injections were given to the inpatients on Friday night as part of their treatment.
District additional collector Narayan Amitmallempati inspected the hospital and inquired about the children's health condition. He said he examined the injection vials administered to the children and confirmed that their expiry date was 2027. He directed the police to review Friday night’s CCTV footage from the hospital. He added that all the children were in stable condition. The district coordinator of hospital services was also asked to conduct an inquiry and submit a report.
Health officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “Though the Monocef batch has been verified, the parents should have been informed about its possible side effects. The injection must be administered slowly, as it acts quickly on bacterial infections. Vomiting is one of its known side effects.”
Meanwhile, the medical officer sent a report (Lr.No.Spl/ES/KNAH/2025, Date: 15.11.2025) to the District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO), placing responsibility on the parents. In the report, accessed by Deccan Chronicle, the medical officer stated that treatment was given to 12 children admitted with fever by the duty medical officer and staff nurse at 9 pm on Friday. However, when the duty medical officer conducted rounds at 10 pm, several children were found missing (absconded) from the paediatric ward.
At 10.45 pm, a three-year-old girl returned to the emergency ward with fever, chills, vomiting and abdominal pain. She was treated promptly and stabilised. Two more children later returned with similar symptoms and were also stabilised. The duty doctor informed the paediatrician and the superintendent, and the staff nurse contacted the parents of the remaining absconded children, asking them to return for follow-up.
The superintendent and paediatricians reviewed all 12 children, re-admitted them to the casualty ward and treated them symptomatically between 2.30 am and 3 am. All the children stabilised after their fever reduced and their vital signs returned to normal. They were monitored through the night, and at 7 am on Saturday, all the children were shifted back to the paediatric ward.