Thanh said his daughter developed a high fever and a headache five days after being given the fourth shot of the type-B Japanese encephalitis vaccine in May last year.

Almost two months later, the girl was admitted to the Tien Giang General Hospital after her left hand and leg became weak and her mouth distorted.

The family also took D. to other hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, including the Children’s Hospital No. 1, the Hospital of Tropical Diseases and Cho Ray Hospital.

In August 2007, when D. was still under Cho Ray Hospital’s care, the father sent Tien Giang Province’s Health Department a letter of complaint about his daughter’s case.

D. has since been diagnosed with encephalitis, although the cause is yet to be determined.

Doctors at Cho Ray Hospital, working with other hospitals and the HCMC Pasteur Institute, have not been able to confirm whether D. has type-B Japanese encephalitis.

D.’s doctor Nguyen Thanh Uc said the girl, now a patient of Tien Giang General Hospital, could not walk, talk or feed herself.

“She is in a non-responsive state,” Dr. Uc said Thursday.

Nguyen Thi Nhu Mai, director of Tien Giang Province’s Preventive Heath Center, said tests showed no relationship between the vaccine and the disease.

Earlier, the center supported D.’s family with VND20 million ($1,190) towards treatment expenses.

The vaccine shot which D. received was from batch V-JM-061006 made by the Hanoi-based Vaccine and Bio-Medical Product Company No. 1.

About 470 injections from the batch have been given but no cases similar to D.’s have been reported, the national Department of Preventive Health and Environment has said.

Reported by Hoang Phuong – Anh Tuan