Teen dies after getting flu shot; cause of death not yet determined
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A teenage boy died after being administered with a seasonal flu vaccine, yet the cause of his death has not yet been determined, health authorities said Monday.
The 17-year-old boy in the western port city of Incheon, whose identity has been withheld, died early Friday morning after receiving the flu shot on Wednesday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The KDCA said he was administered with one of the vaccine bottles that were shipped by Shinsung Pharm Co., a distributor of some vaccine bottles that were exposed to room temperature during shipments as part of a nationwide free flu shots program.
"It is necessary to first determine the cause of his death as no specific side effects were reported after receiving the shot and he passed away after a certain period of time," KCDA Director Jeong Eun-kyeong said during a briefing.
The authorities earlier said the mishandled vaccines have passed quality tests and concluded that there is no safety issue. They have also collected some 539,000 doses that were shipped by Shinsung Pharm.
Jeong said the deceased boy had received the flu vaccine as part of the free shot program and that the bottle was shipped by Shinsung Pharm, yet there was no problem during the shipping.
The KDCA said a total of 80 cases of abnormal reactions after administration of the problematic vaccines has been reported, slightly up from 76 cases reported on Thursday.
Separately, 615,000 doses of flu vaccines were recalled after the authorities confirmed white particles were found in flu vaccines in the public health center in Yeongdeok, a county located about 350 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)