The death of a two-month-old baby on Tuesday most likely was due to sudden infant death syndrome, rather than from drinking mother’s milk after the child’s mother got vaccinated against COVID-19 on Monday, doctors have said.
Responding to the mother’s speculation that the AstraZeneca vaccine had contaminated her breast milk, leading to the death of her child, Central Epidemic Command Center Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices convener Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎) said that no country in the world deems COVID-19 vaccines unsafe for breastfeeding mothers.
The mother said that she found her daughter with foam and blood on her lips at 3am, four hours after breastfeeding.
The baby was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.
Lee, an infectious disease expert, said that COVID-19 vaccines are injected into a muscle to stimulate an immune response to the virus, without the risk that the drug would contaminate the recipient’s breast milk.
Echoing Lee, National Taiwan University Children’s Hospital superintendent Huang Li-min (黃立民) said it was highly unlikely that the infant’s death was caused by her mother’s breast milk.
When a child under the age of one dies suddenly and without obvious cause, it is most likely due to sudden infant death syndrome, Huang said, adding that an autopsy would be required to determine the cause of death.
Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed that 23 of the 165,249 babies born in the nation last year died of the syndrome.
Figures for the past few years were similar, with 24 deaths among 175,074 births in 2019 and 22 among 181,601 births in 2018, it showed.
The WHO says the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine can be given to breastfeeding mothers, and the agency “does not recommend discontinuation of breastfeeding after vaccination.”
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the