A T L A N T A, July 11
Shortages of two childhood vaccines one to protect against measles,
mumps and rubella, and a second to fight diphtheria, tetanus and
whooping cough are over, the government said Thursday.
Both vaccines have been in short supply since 2000 because some drug
companies had dropped out of the market and others had slowed production
to upgrade their plants or fix manufacturing problems.
But supplies of the shots commonly called the MMR and DTP vaccines
are now adequate, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Health officials had expected the shortages to be corrected this summer.
The CDC announced the end of the shortage in a bulletin to doctors
Thursday, urging them to resume the normal vaccine schedules for their
patients.
But to prevent a run on the vaccines, the agency is not yet
recommending that doctors urge parents to bring their children in to
make up any shots they missed.
There are still shortages of childhood vaccines against chicken pox
and pneumococcal infection.
Parents are supposed to get MMR shots for their children at 12 to 15
months and again at 4 to 6 years. During the shortage, the CDC
recommended postponing the second shot.
The DTP vaccine is usually given to children in five doses over their
first 4 to 6 years. The CDC had suggested parents put off the fourth and
fifth doses while supplies were low.
Health officials never recommended that the shots be put off
altogether, because the diseases they fight strike particularly hard
against infants and toddlers.
Three vaccines against DTP are produced in the United States:
Tripedia and Daptacel, marketed by Aventis Pasteur, and Infanrix, made
by GlaxoSmithKline. Daptacel won federal approval just two months ago,
helping to ease the shortage.
Merck is the only U.S. maker of the MMR vaccine.
On the Net:
CDC vaccine supply updates: http://www.cdc.gov/nip
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