Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
TUESDAY, Dec. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Almost 800,000 children's doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine have been recalled by manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur Inc. because they have lost some potency, federal health officials said Tuesday.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (http://topics.forbes.com/U.S.%20Centers%20for%20Disease%20Control - broken link) and Prevention, the company's routine testing of the vaccine for children aged 6 months to almost 3 years found that four batches had lower than required potency levels. "This means that doses from these four vaccine lots no longer meet the manufacturer's specifications for potency," according to the CDC.
Large Recall of Children's Swine Flu Vaccine - Forbes.com (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/hscout/2009/12/15/hscout634105.html?feed=rss_forbeslife_health - broken link)
Yes, discouraging news for all of us who have been encouraging vaccination! Fortunately, it is just one manufacturer of many, it is not a safety issue, and it is not recommended that kids that received vaccine from the affected lots be revaccinated.
Yes, discouraging news for all of us who have been encouraging vaccination! Fortunately, it is just one manufacturer of many, it is not a safety issue, and it is not recommended that kids that received vaccine from the affected lots be revaccinated.
I heard the supposed lack of need for revaccination, but I guess they won't have enough vaccine to revaccinate everyone.
On the face of the statement, that the vaccine wasn't strong enough to provide the required immune response, but don't bother getting another shot seems rather rediculous.
As an aside, and not deliberately trying to start World War III on CD forums, could the lack of thimerisol in these single shot dosages have been the reason for the lack of effectiveness? Was the lack of preservative a factor in the vaccine losing its effectiveness over time?
Last edited by NSHL10; 12-15-2009 at 06:49 PM..
Reason: added
The CDC has also reported that the recalled vaccine was still potent enough to provide protection and that anyone who received the less-potent vaccine will not need to be re-vaccinated. Also, the recall was not mandatory - the manufacturer decided, on its own, to recall this one batch.
Vaccines are tested many times for potency - when they're manufactured, when they're shipped, 2 weeks later, a month later, etc. Not often, but not rarely, a batch loses some potency and it is recalled. In this case they seem to think the flu particles attached to the plastic syringe (the vaccine was shipped already in the syringe) and lost, on average, 17% potency.
If anything this just shows the system works like it's suppose to.
I heard the supposed lack of need for revaccination, but I guess they won't have enough vaccine to revaccinate everyone.
On the face of the statement, that the vaccine wasn't strong enough to provide the required immune response, but don't bother getting another shot seems rather rediculous.
As an aside, and not deliberately trying to start World War III on CD forums, could the lack of thimerisol in these single shot dosages have been the reason for the lack of effectiveness? Was the lack of preservative a factor in the vaccine losing its effectiveness over time?
There is nothing that says the vaccine wasn't strong enough to give an immune response, in fact, the CDC is saying just the opposite.
Should infants and children who received vaccines from these lots be revaccinated?
No. The vaccine potency is only slightly below the “specified” range. The vaccine in these lots is still expected to be effective in stimulating a protective response despite this slight reduction in the concentration of antigen.
(Mod pls note, govt. website, therefore not a copyright violation.)
I don't think the thimerosol or lack thereof has anything to do with it. The vaccine companies have been making flu vaccines w/o thimerosol for a number of years, and thimerosol has been removed from all other childhood vaccines. Some never had it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
