Merck Recalls 1 Million Kids Vaccine Doses

Childhood Vaccine To Prevent Meningitis Recalled In U.S. Due To Sterilization Problem

(AP)  Merck & Co. is recalling about a million doses of a childhood vaccine, after testing showed a sterilization problem in a Pennsylvania factory.

The company is not aware of any harm to children who received the vaccine, known as Hib, which prevents meningitis and pneumonia. It is a three-dose shot recommended for all children under 5 and is usually given to infants starting at two months old.

The recall involves 10 lots of Hib vaccine and two lots of a combination vaccine for both Hib and hepatitis B, a Merck spokeswoman said.

She said the company did not find contamination in the vaccine itself, but in the plant where the vaccine is produced in West Point, Pa.

Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., is one of the few drug makers that produces a significant number of vaccines.

While the company took a black eye with its September 2004 withdrawal of the painkiller Vioxx due to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, the company has been performing well recently. On Tuesday, it gave an upbeat assessment in its annual briefing for analysts.

Five weeks ago, Merck reached a deal to settle up to 50,000 Vioxx lawsuits for $4.85 billion, an amount expected to save the company millions in trial costs.

Its stock price has more than recovered from its post-Vioxx slump, a two-year-old restructuring plan is going well and profits are up. For example, Merck posted a 62 percent increase in its third-quarter profit as revenues jumped by double digits.

[erasmus6]

susanh6

Maybe in some places they have it but they don''t have it here. My kids never got one and my nieces and nephews haven''t gotten any.

I would believe more what I hear on the news than from some website on the internet.

[susanh6]

RE:Canadian Immunizations. I don''t think you can believe the news all the time. Here are some links that show Hib and Memingococcal shots on the Canadian schedules. http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/im/is-cv/index.html#a
http://www.drpaul.com/immunizations/immun-ca.html
http://www.immunize.cpha.ca/english/consumer/parents/schedule/NACIImmunizationSchedule20050316.pdf
or just Google it.

The marriage between Big Pharma and Politicians force these poisons on our youth all in the name of health but profit is the real reason. I find it absolutely amazing that any of our ancestors survive not having these toxins injected into them at a young age. The "Age of Reason" has come and gone, it is all about profit.

[jmslot]

This report started out being about the recall but quickly became more about merck''s unfortunate vioxx lawsuit. Vioxx is an important issue and deserves to have a separate report, especially since this report only gave info on the lawsuit paid out and was vague about the recall. I have a child who received 3 doses of hib and no lot #''s were displayed and no info on whom or how to contact the company was given in the report. The merck website wasn''t helpful either. I am glad to see we have the children in mind when we are reporting yet another recall. The report should have contain some info for the parents who are actually concerned about their children. I hope my dr''s office will be a help. Even if children are not get sick parents should get more info.

[erasmus6]

"Re Canada--yes, they do give babies in Canada vaccines for pneumonia and meningitis." posted by Susanh6


I was watching the news tonight and they were talking about this and they said that Canada doesn''t give vaccines to children for meningitis or pneumonia.

[raised4952]

i wonder where our federal inspectors was before the vaccine was distributed to find that there was contamination after the fact

[susanh6]

Re Canada--yes, they do give babies in Canada vaccines for pneumonia and meningitis. And to Susieq, I am sorry about your daughter''s disability, but there is no more proof that it was caused by a vaccine than that it was caused by what she ate for breakfast that morning--in other words, the science is overwhelmingly in favor of the safety of vaccines, and when considered against the deadly diseases they prevent it is a no-brainer. Vaccines are one of the few medical areas where the community is completely interdependent--your choice to not vaccinate your children is a choice to make them vulnerable to disabling and deadly diseases and to be a carrier to others of those diseases.

[susieq_13]

I said that wrong. I don''t think vaccines should be the law. It should be a choice.

[susieq_13]

This doesn''t surprise me. The very 1st set of vaccines my daughter received messed her up for the rest of her life. She is now 16 and has the mind of a 2 month old baby. I don''t blame parents for not wanting to immunize their children. I didn''t want to have my other 2 children immunized, but I was told I didn''t have a choice. When in fact, I did. I think having children vaccinated should be the law. I think it should be a choice.

[erasmus6]

Unless they have started recently, I don''t think Canada gives vaccines to children under 5, for meningitis and pneumonia.

[erasmus6]

I am all for getting children vaccinated but is it any wonder parents are not wanting to anymore, especially when the companies that make them are starting to s-c-r-e-w up?