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July 12, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Patients Warned About Potentially Faulty Vaccines"

Associated Press (www.ap.org) (07/10/02)

In Minneapolis, Minn., officials at Park Nicollet Clinic say that over 3,400 people may need to be revaccinated because the vaccines were not stored at the proper temperatures.  Park Nicollet senior vice president Richard Freese believes everyone who received a polio booster, hepatitis A or B, or Prevnar shot since December at the clinic probably is protected against disease, but revaccinations are necessary to ensure protection. A second vaccination will not harm patients, and the only harm caused by the ineffective vaccines is that some people thought they were protected when they were not protected, explain health officials.  The Minnesota Health Department says that five or six other clinics also exposed vaccines to freezing temperatures--they should be kept between 35 and 46 degrees--and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that other instances have been reported around the United States.

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