Common Infant Vaccine Recalled

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Gerberding expects the recall will result in shortages of the vaccine, but she doesn't expect any increase in disease because so many children have been vaccinated.

"We are sorry for parents who will be inconvenienced," she said.

Merck identified the problem during routine testing of the manufacturing process at a plant in Pennsylvania, Dr. Norman Baylor, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Vaccine Research and Review, said during the teleconference.

"Merck identified an issue that creates the potential for microorganisms to survive a sterilization step performed during manufacturing," Baylor said. "No documented contamination of the vaccine has been found."

Parents whose children were recently vaccinated against Hib can look for skin bumps or abscesses at the site of the injection, which could indicate a potential problem, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the CDC's director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. But she did not specify what those problems might be.

"These kinds of things might emerge up to a week after a vaccination," Schuchat said. "But we don't have any reports of those."

The CDC is reviewing the Hib vaccine supply throughout the country to see what can be done to alleviate any shortage that occurs, she added.

More information

For more Haemophilus influenzae infections, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.