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    A Botched Vaccine Campaign For Measles Killed 15 Children in South Sudan

    The children, all under age 5, died of severe sepsis and toxicity. How could something like this have happened?
    by Malaka Gharib Jun 02, 2017 3 minutes
    A Sudanese nurse prepares an inoculation against measles. In the case of the children who died or were sickened from the vaccine, untrained personnel administered it. / ASHRAF SHAZLY / Getty Images

    In a tragic turn in South Sudan, an effort to protect 15 children ended up killing them.

    The children, all under age 5, died of severe sepsis and toxicity due to a botched vaccination campaign, according to a joint statement issued Thursday by UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

    The vaccine had been left unrefrigerated. One syringe was reused over the course of four days.

    The campaign, which took place in early May in the rural town of Kapoeta, was part of an effort by the South Sudanese government to vaccinate 2 million

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