Baby dies as ma sleeps

MANILA, Philippines - A two-month-old baby boy died while his mother slept beside him early Monday night in their rented room in Quezon City, police reported yesterday.

Alexiel Lagui of Zorra street in Barangay Paltok was discovered already dead by his mother, Marita, 40, at around 8:30 p.m., two hours after she fell asleep while attending to her sick newborn.

Police said earlier that day, Marita brought her baby to the Barangay Paltok Health Center for his dose of oral polio vaccine and diphteria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT) vaccine. The mother later said after the vaccinations, she was told by the attending doctor to get some medicine from the barangay hall but was told there was none they could give as the supply has been exhausted.

She decided to bring her son back home without the prescribed medicines. She said she had no money to buy them anyway.

At around 6:30 p.m., her son developed a fever, apparently in reaction to the shots earlier that day. She said she could only dab a wet towel on his forehead to keep the fever down.

Cursory examination by crime scene operatives showed vaccination marks on the baby’s right thigh. The victim’s body was taken to the Crime Lab Services for autopsy.

Police said the vaccines may have been too much for the baby’s body to absorb.