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July 26, 2002
U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"US Firm Urges Vaccine for Cochlear Implant Patients"
Reuters (www.reuters.com) (07/25/02); Shalal-Esa, Andrea
Advanced Bionics Corp. in Valencia, Calif., has issued a warning regarding the cochlear inner-ear implants it produces, saying that wearing the implant may put customers at higher risk for bacterial meningitis and urging all patients who use the cochlear system to get vaccinated against various pneumococcal diseases. On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that worldwide, 25 adults and children with cochlear implants had been diagnosed with meningitis, with nine cases resulting in death. In its public health notification, the FDA said that doctors should consider giving patients antibiotics before implantation, and it added that candidates for implantation, as well as those already implanted, may be aided by shots against the organisms that commonly cause bacterial meningitis, especially Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae. The FDA said the onset of the illness after implantation ranged from less than 24 hours to more than five years, and that some 60,000 people worldwide have undergone implant procedures to date.
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