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Saturday, September 06, 2008

Lamorinda Moms Club

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Children's vaccine recall Print Email
Dec. 12th 2007 -- Parents say it's painful to watch and little ones dread getting them, but Doctors stress that childhood immunizations are vital, especially Hib - a 3 dose shot usually given to infants starting at 2 months old. Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Joshua Sharfstein says, “It's a very important vaccine. It saved many children's lives."

Before the vaccine was introduced in the 1990's, Haemophilus Influenzae type b killed 1-thousand children a year. The bacteria would cause an abscess in the brain or swelling of the windpipe - that led to suffocation and instant death. Sharfstein says, “The good news is because there's been so much vaccinations in the past, this disease has gone down over 90%.”

Still, some children may have to go without the required vaccine because its maker, Merck and Co., is recalling a million doses that could be contaminated. “Fortunately there are two manufactures so the other manufacturer doesn't have any problems. So they will probably be shifting around the vaccine," explains the Doctor.

But even with the Federal Government stockpile of 750-thousand doses, there will still be a shortfall and not enough vaccines to go around. Dr. Sharfstein says this problem illustrates how fragile our immunization system is saying “It's important over the long term that the country be able to build up infrastructure so that they can withstand these kinds of fluctuations in supply."

If you’re child has already received the vaccine, Doctors say they would most likely show signs of an adverse reaction in the 2 days after the shot. But no one has presented any problems and the chances of any are slim