Poor refrigeration spoils vaccines: CDC

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Poor refrigeration spoils vaccines: CDC

The Associated Press

Updated: Wed. Dec. 5 2007 8:43 AM ET

DES MOINES, Iowa — Every year, thousands of American children go

through the tearful, teeth-gritting ordeal of getting their

vaccinations, only to be forced to do it all over again. The vaccines

were duds, ruined by poor refrigeration.

It is more than a source of distress for parent and child. It is a

public health threat, because youngsters given understrength vaccines

are unprotected against dangerous diseases. And it accounts for a big

part of the US$20 million in waste incurred by the federal Vaccines

for Children program.

" This is a substantial problem that needs to be addressed through

prevention, and when problems are discovered, often times through

revaccinations, " said Dr. Lance Rodewald, director of immunization

services at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in

Atlanta.

By CDC estimates, hundreds of thousands of doses of vaccines against

such diseases as flu, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio,

mumps, measles, chicken pox and the cervical cancer virus are thrown

out each year because of poor refrigeration at clinics, hospitals and

doctors' offices.

In one recent case in Sioux City, Iowa, more than 1,000 families were

notified by letter and telephone that they needed to get their

children revaccinated. State officials found that the refrigerator at

the clinic that administered the shots repeatedly dropped below

freezing over a 17-month period in 2005 and 2006, potentially ruining

the vaccines stored there.

" We just didn't notice it, " said Dr. Ray Sturdevant, president of the

Prairie Pediatrics and Adolescent Clinic.

Poor refrigeration has been blamed for similar problems elsewhere

around the country over the past 2 1/2 years:

In St. Cloud, Minn., a clinic had to revaccinate 8,600 patients, most

of them children.

In Lane County, Ore., 500 children and adults had to get another

shot.

In western Florida, it happened to about 250 kids.

In Sioux City and other cases, the spoilage resulted from a

combination of factors: The refrigerator malfunctioned or was not set

or maintained at the proper temperature -- a problem that can be

caused simply by leaving the door open for a while -- and the workers

responsible for regularly logging the temperature did not seem to

recognize when the readings were off.

" We do everything we can to advise and to make people aware that this

is very expensive vaccines they're dealing with and we really want to

handle it properly and store it properly to prevent these things from

happening -- but they do, " said , chief of

immunization with the Florida Health Department.

Inadequate refrigeration can cause vaccines to lose their potency,

although experts say spoiled childhood vaccines are not dangerous in

themselves if given to a youngster.

And there are no known cases of children contracting a disease

because they had been given a vaccine rendered ineffective by poor

refrigeration. But it could happen, and " that's why we're concerned

about it, " Rodewald said.