'Mass hysteria': Dozens fall sick in Bhola during HPV vaccination, including some unvaccinated

Sixty-eight students of a school, including 62 who were reportedly given HPV vaccination, fell sick in Bhola today (29 October) due to what doctors said was mass hysteria.

The incident took place at Genda Girls Secondary School in Borhanuddin upazila this afternoon. 

Deputy Commissioner Md Azad Jahan said a medical team was sent from Sadar upazila for treatment of the students. 

"We have formed an probe committee with three members to find out why this incident happened," he told The Business Standard.

Dr Nirupam Sarkar, health and family planning officer of Borhanuddin upazila, said all the injured are out of danger but the critical ones have been sent to Bhola Sadar for better treatment. 

"Among the sick, there are six people who have not been vaccinated. It is a mass psychological disease. One falls sick after seeing others falling sick. It happens more often among children," he said.

Among the sick, 54 people were admitted and treated at Borhanuddin Upazila Health Complex. Among them, 48 have recovered and returned home and the rest are undergoing treatment at Bhola 250-bed General Hospital.

This morning, 162 female students of Genda Balika Secondary School were given HPV vaccination to prevent cervical cancer.

At around 12pm, an eighth grade student fell sick. Soon after, 10 more students started feeling nausea and dizziness. The vaccination programme was immediately stopped. But the number of sick people kept increasing. 

Speaking to The Business Standard, some sick students claimed that after taking the vaccine, they started feeling dizzy with nausea and chest pain. And seeing one of them fainting, another student also fainted, they said.

Parents of the students claimed that their daughters started pulling their own hair and crying when they returned home after vaccination.