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May 31, 2002

"Cuba Halts Vaccination for Measles as 3 Children Die"

Miami Herald (www.miami.com/herald) (05/31/02) P. A16

In Cuba, the government stated Thursday that it has suspended its measles vaccination program after three children died and 42 became sick after receiving shots from "apparently contaminated" vials filled with measles vaccine that had been imported from India.  According to Dr. Pedro Lopez Sanchez, the clinical trials director for Cuba's Center of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, his country manufactures some vaccines, such as those for hepatitis B and meningitis B.  He added, however, that Cuba does not manufacture vaccines for childhood diseases such as measles, preferring to get them from other countries.  The government noted in a communique carried in the Communist Party daily Granma that the vaccines had been certified by and acquired via the World Health Organization; no other details on the acquisition of the vaccines or where in Cuba the children died were provided.

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