Rotarix rotavirus vaccine contaminated, officials say

[The Straight Story]

Rotarix rotavirus vaccine contaminated, officials say

(CNN) -- Federal health authorities recommended Monday that doctors suspend using Rotarix, one of two vaccines licensed in the United States against rotavirus, saying the vaccine is contaminated with material from a pig virus.

"There is no evidence at this time that this material poses a safety risk," Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg told reporters in a conference call.

Rotarix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, was approved by the FDA in 2008. The contaminant material is DNA from porcine circovirus 1, a virus from pigs that is not known to cause disease in humans or animals, Hamburg said.

About 1 million children in the United States and about 30 million worldwide have gotten Rotarix vaccine, she said.

Rotavirus disease kills more than 500,000 infants around the world each year, primarily in low- and middle-income countries, she said. Before rotavirus vaccine became available, the disease was blamed for more than 50,000 hospitalizations and several dozen deaths per year in the United States, she said.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/22/rotavirus.vaccine/?hpt=T2

Good thing about kids getting shots, they are usually too young to tell you if it is making them sick (of course if a parent wants to wait until the kids are older they are just being selfish and woo-woos).

[hedgehog]

1. Yep, why get your kid a shot when you have the bonding experience

of holding him in your arms at the hospital while a nurse tries to find a vein to start an IV after he's had diarrhea 36 hours straight....

[nemo137]

2. From the linked article

It doesn't look like the CSK vaccine is actually making anything sick, or that that FDA thinks it will, they're pulling it to be sure.

Which is exactly what the FDA is supposed to do.

So isn't this just a story about "yay, shit's working?"