April 23, 2011

Doses 71 and 72 Soon to be Added to the Childhood Vaccine Schedule


So dose number 70 was added last December, and four months later we are headed for the addition of two more infant doses.

The FDA has approved Sanofi's Menactra for use in two doses at 9 and 15 months.

The ACIP has not yet added it to CDCs recommended schedule, but does anyone really think that they are not going to? No.

FDA Approvals Meningococcal Vaccine For Children
Jamie Peter | Web Producer
Posted: 8:01 pm EDT April 22, 2011
Updated: 8:29 pm EDT April 22, 2011


A local drug maker has been granted approval for a vaccine to protect infants against a potentially deadly disease.

Sanofi Pasteur announced Friday that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it's two-dose schedule for Menactra, a meningococcal conjugate vaccine, for children 9 months through 23 months.

It is the first U.S. approval of a meningococcal vaccine for this age group.

"Licensure of Menactra vaccine for infants as young as 9 months of age gives the opportunity to help protect infants against this potentially deadly disease when the likelihood of exposure supports a need for early protection," said Stephen I. Pelton, MD. Pelton is a professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology at Boston University Schools of Medicine and is the Public Health and Chief for Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Boston Medical Center.

Meningococcal disease is rare but it can be deadly.

It is caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis and can progress so quickly it can claim the life of a child within 24 hours.

FDA studies also showed that measles-mumps-rubella-varicella vaccine (MMRV) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) can be administered with the Menactra vaccine in children.

Vaccine related reactions included swelling, tenderness at injection site, and irritability.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Where is the data that says you can give this PLUS MMRV plus the other one ALL at the same time.

Oh, yea, you can physically do it. But can you do it SAFELY?

Minority said...

The clinical studies included, as always, healthy children only. Roll out to the entire population will follow of course, and new and unpleasant reactions will turn up and most likely be ignored.

Ugh.

Minority said...

Here is what I added to our calculation of the cost of the U.S. schedule: It never ends, two doses of Menactra may be added to the schedule, following approval by the FDA (April 2011). This adds 212.98 to the 0-6 schedule, bringing it up to $1,676.77 and the complete schedule goes up to $2,386.94, which is fairly impressive, I think, for an operation which is supposed to be just breaking even. Multiply this by millions of children every year…

http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/2010/07/18/vaccine-sleight-of-hand/

Ginger Taylor said...

Mo money...

So you saw the adult schedule at 167 doses per a 78 year lifespan. Ever done that math.\?

Minority said...

Not yet! My life is way too busy, although as a grandmother with a full-time job I certainly can't compare to mothers with little kids when it comes to time pressures. I'll put it on my to do list.