MY QUESTION IS THIS - IF THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THE VACCINE, WHY HAULT ITS USE?
F.D.A. Asks Pediatricians to Stop Using a Diarrhea Vaccine for NowBy GARDINER HARRIS Published: March 22, 2010
WASHINGTON — Federal drug regulators on Monday asked the nation’s pediatricians to stop giving children a diarrhea vaccine until federal scientists can figure out why the product contains apparently harmless but extraneous pieces of a pig virus.
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News
Dr. Margaret Hamburg, the commissioner of the F.D.A.
The vaccine, called Rotarix, is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline and is intended to prevent severe cases of rotavirus infections, a diarrheal illness that can cause dehydration in infants and young children.
“This was a difficult decision for us because there is no evidence at this time that there is a risk to children,” said Dr. Margaret Hamburg, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner.
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Vaccines for rotavirus have a difficult history. The first such vaccine, called RotaShield, was approved for use in the United States in 1998 and withdrawn a year later after it was linked with rare cases of intussusception, or bowel obstruction.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/health/policy/23fda.htmlWHAT CAUSED THE FDA TO ASK DOCS TO STOP USING THIS VAC IF IT IS HARMLESS?