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November 15, 2002

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Doctors Are Ordered to Stop Using Mumps Vaccine Amid Safety Fears" London Independent (www.independent.co.uk) (11/15/02) P. 2; Arthur, Charles

Until safety checks are completed by the Medicines Control Agency, use of Pavivac, a mumps vaccine made in the Czech Republic that is used as a single alternative to the combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) injection, should be discontinued, according to Britain's Committee on the Safety of Medicines.  Parents with children who recently received Pavivac have been advised to contact their doctors.  Safety committee chairman Alasdair Breckenridge noted that there were "major questions" regarding the manufacture, testing, and storage of the Czech mumps vaccine, and he said that the halt on its import or use was precautionary.  The vaccine is not licensed for use in Britain [or in the United States], but doctors can, in theory, give consenting patients unlicensed drugs.

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