Two twin infants in Vinh Phuc Province, northern Vietnam displayed unusual symptoms, with their skin turning purple, before one of them passed away while the other remains in critical condition after receiving hepatitis B vaccinations, a leader of the Vinh Phuc Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital said on Sunday.

The leader told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the hospital was working with relevant agencies to clarify the case.

The hospital conducted the vaccination in a closed process, the hospital leader affirmed, adding that the relevant units did many tests to identify the cause.

The two twin infants suffered fatty-acid metabolism disorders, inborn errors of metabolism, a leader of Hanoi-based Vietnam National Children's Hospital, where one of the twin boys is being treated, explained on Monday.

This is a rare disease and can be found through intensive testing only.

Doctors at the Vietnam National Children's Hospital have seen some 10 deaths following hepatitis B vaccinations over the past few years but the cause of the deaths was not the jab.

Hepatitis B vaccines are often injected right after children are born, often coinciding with the development of symptoms of fatty-acid metabolism disorders after the babies are fed.

The two babies were born by caesarean on Saturday. They weighed 2.9 and three kilograms and were healthy and breast-fed, according to the family of the two.

At 10:00 am on Sunday, they got vaccinated against hepatitis B.

However, one of them suffered shortness of breath and his skin turned purple at 11:45 am the same day.

He passed away despite doctors’ intensive treatment. 

At 3:00 pm the same day, the remaining baby developed similar symptoms and underwent emergency treatment at the Vinh Phuc Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital.

He was later transferred to the Vietnam National Children's Hospital in neighboring Hanoi.

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