ActHIB Vaccine Found to Contain Pieces of Glass Between 2013 and 2015
In 2013, pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur issued no recalls after finding glass shards in vials of ActHIB, its conjugate vaccine containing Haemophilus b and meningococcal protein that is given to infants at two, four, six and between 15 and 18 months of age. The public was not informed until the end of 2016, when…
Intramuscular Injection May Lead to Nerve Damage
Drug and biological product administration via intramuscular injections using hypodermic needles has been a common medical practice for several centuries and is not going anywhere soon—from vaccines, antibiotics and insulin to an experimental injectable male contraceptive in development. The main issue…
Two Children Die After Polio Vaccination, Four in Critical Condition in Pakistan
Two children in the Tehsil Bara area of the Khyber Agency tribal region in Pakistan reportedly died last week “moments” after receiving the live oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). Another 11 children, who had been administered the vaccine in Tehsil Bara, fell unconscious and were taken to Hayatabad hospital in the city of Peshawar. Four of the…
Study: Flu Vaccine Does Not Reduce School Absenteeism
Findings from a recent study published in Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses reveals that getting the flu vaccine does not reduce the number of school days missed by children who get influenza. The conclusion of the study questions how often the flu vaccine actually prevents severe type A or type B influenza among children between the ages of five to 17 years old.
Mysterious Polio-Like Illness Plaguing Children Stumps CDC
As of September 2016, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 89 cases of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), also often referred to as Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP), a neurological disease whose symptoms resemble those of poliovirus and non-polio enteroviruses, but for which no cause or treatment is known. The CDC recorded its first case of AFM in August of 2014.
Acute Flaccid Myelitis and Routine Childhood Vaccinations: This is Nothing New
In the last several weeks there has been a growing concern about the number of children who have developed Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), which the media has reported is a “mysterious polio-like illness.” Daniel Ramirez died on Sunday, Oct. 30, after being hospitalized for two weeks with paralysis. The doctors at Seattle Children’s Hospital…
