Parents Should Postpone Child Vaccine Booster: CDC

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
Thursday, December 20, 2007; 6:00 PM

Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

THURSDAY, Dec. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Last week's recall of vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae (Hib) by drug maker Merck has triggered a shortage of the shots, and that's led the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend that parents delay getting their children the standard type B (Hib) vaccine booster.

H. influenzae is a group of bacteria that may cause different types of infections in infants and children. They include ear, eye or sinus infections and pneumonia. A more serious but rare strain can cause meningitis and a life-threatening infection called epiglottitis. H. influenzae is not a cause of the seasonal flu.

On Dec. 13, Merck recalled 1.2 million doses of its Hib vaccines due to potential contamination during the manufacturing process. However, the recalled vaccine does not pose a health threat, CDC spokesman Curtis Allen said. "It's a precautionary recall. All the recalled lots have been tested, and there is no indication that there is contamination," he stressed.

The agency expects the shortage -- which covers Merck's PedvaxHIB and Comvax (Hib/hepatitis B) shots -- to last well into next year. The recommendation was announced Wednesday in a CDC publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Dispatch.

"The booster dose is being deferred temporally in order to save vaccine," Allen explained. "The deferral of boosters will likely be many months, possibly until the end of 2008."

"Parents should continue to get the initial doses of the vaccine," Allen added.

Allen noted that this delay should not cause an increase in Hib-related infections, "primarily because of the herd immunity that is afforded by the number of children who are vaccinated." In 2006, 94 percent of all U.S. children had been vaccinated, Allen said, so the chances of Hib spreading to any one child remain low -- a phenomenon doctors call "herd immunity."

However, the agency is asking that physicians keep track of patients who did not get the booster shot so they can be notified when the shortage is over, Allen said.