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Merck Vaccine Recall - Sutter Amador Patients Are Safe |
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Wednesday, 19 December 2007 |
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Sutter Amador Hospital
wants to assure parents that Sutter
Amador Pediatric
Center patients who have
received vaccinations
recently are safe. Last week Merck & Co voluntarily recalled about 1.2
million doses of its widely-used children's vaccines after quality-control
checks found production equipment may not have been properly sterilized.
Vaccines recalled were certain lots of a vaccine which protects against Hib
influenza and other conditions. The Sutter
Amador Pediatric
Center was notified
immediately by the California Department of Health Services Vaccines for
Children Program with affected vaccine lot numbers to discontinue using before
any were administered to patients.
“None of our patients received the
affected vaccines because we removed them from use as soon as we were
notified,” said Pat Simonsen, supervisor of the Sutter Amador
Pediatric Center. “Parents of our patients should
also be aware that we receive the Hib vaccine from vendors other than Merck.
This means that we do have the necessary vaccines available for the patients
who need them and that these vaccines are safe for use because they are not
under the recall.”
According
to the California Department of Health Services, vaccine lots are routinely
tested prior to release. In this instance, no contaminated vaccine has actually
been found. Merck voluntarily recalled the vaccines as a precautionary
measure. “This recall should not cause alarm for any patients of ours because
all affected vaccines were disposed of before they were used,” says Simonsen.
The CDC has recommended that children receive Hib vaccine for nearly a decade.
Fewer than 100 documented Hib cases currently are reported in the United States
each year.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 January 2008 )
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