"Schools Waive Tetanus Booster Amid Shortage; Health Officials Don't Expect Relief Until Later This Year"
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"Schools Waive Tetanus Booster Amid Shortage;
Health Officials Don't Expect Relief Until Later This Year" Kansas City Star (www.kcstar.com)
(06/23/02) P. B1; Shepherd, Sara
Kansas and Missouri teen-agers
may be able to attend school this fall despite not receiving the mandated
tetanus and diphtheria booster since an 18 month-long shortage in the vaccine
has prompted the states to waive the restriction. This is the second year that
teens have been excused from the booster because of the shortage, and school
nurses and health care providers are concerned that so many missed doses will
not be caught up once the vaccine becomes available again. Manufacturer Aventis
Pasteur said that the combined effects of
another major manufacturer dropping production of the vaccine and the time it
takes to grow the bacteria used in the vaccine have made it difficult to meet
demand. However, the maker expected some recovery to occur during the late
summer, though health officials do not anticipate any relief until much later in
the year. As a precaution they have been withholding routine boosters for
adolescents and adults in an effort to maintain enough in reserve for those
considered at most need, including the injured, pregnant women who are due for
their ten year booster, and those who never received at least three doses of the
diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis series.
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