Five vaccines in one shot: Pediarix

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NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER
Vienna, Virginia http://www.nvic.org
UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN #9119

BL Fisher Note: As the 5 in 1 shot is used more widely, parents need to make sure that doctors report serious health problems following this vaccination to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) and also report to the National Vaccine Information Center's Vaccine Reaction Registry, which NVIC has been operating for more than 20 years. If a doctor won't report to VAERS, parents can get help reporting from the National Vaccine Information Center by going to www.nvic.org

http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2010509p-8392606c.html
News Observer, NC
January 11, 2005

Glaxo offers a 5-in-1 shot
Tots' vaccinations could decline by 6
By AMY GARDNER, Staff Writer

That stunned look when the needle goes in, the deep intake of two lungs' worth of air, and then, the scream -- all could become a little bit rarer for North Carolina babies thanks to a five-in-one vaccine available now. The vaccine, called Pediarix and made by GlaxoSmithKline, protects infants against five diseases: hepatitis B, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and polio.

It replaces three inoculations, including a three-in-one shot, previously administered to infants. And because it will be administered three times in most children's first year, it will reduce the number of shots they get by as many as six.

That's good news for baby -- and Mom and Dad, most agree.

"It's hard for him to take five or six vaccines at once," said Watson Salapo, 40, an airport taxi dispatcher and Congolese native who was at Wake County Human Services on Monday seeking immunizations for his 20-month-old son, Benel. Benel, with big tears on his cheeks and glued to the body of his mother, Mireille Mavambu, is catching up on immunizations he did not receive in Congo.

"The last time he came he needed five or six," his father said.

Pediarix has been on the market for two years, but it became available to children free in North Carolina only this month, through the state's universal vaccine program. The vaccine, which will cost the state about $2 more per shot than the three shots it replaces, will be available through most public clinics and private practices.

But some pediatric practices will continue to offer the individual shots that Pediarix replaces, leaving the choice with parents. The reason: The new shot causes a higher fever in some children.

"The current DPT causes fever occasionally," said Dr. Chuck Willson, a clinical professor of pediatrics at East Carolina University and a paid consultant to Glaxo on development of the new vaccine. "Pediarix causes a little higher fever, but it doesn't cause it more often."

The culprit in the high fevers is thought to be the whooping cough component, Willson said. He recommends administering Tylenol to babies receiving Pediarix to keep the fever down.

About 120,000 children per year are immunized through North Carolina's universal vaccine program, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. National statistics put North Carolina among the top five states in the percentage of 2-year-old children who have received all age-appropriate immunizations.

Currently, following guidelines established by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most children receive up to 21 injections from birth to 18 months.

Depending on a child's immunization schedule, using Pediarix could reduce that number by four, five or six shots.

"Most parents really like that concept," said Sara Hauser, a nurse supervisor at Wake County's immunization clinic. She added that some parents who refuse immunizations out of protectiveness for their children may be more receptive to allowing the full regimen of inoculations with the new vaccine.

The vaccine is not yet available in some offices, including Wake County's immunization clinic next to WakeMed on New Bern Avenue, where nurses expect their order to arrive in a few days.

As for doctors' offices that have not placed their orders with the state, beware: Glaxo, the British drug company that employs 6,000 people in the Triangle, is promoting Pediarix in the media. ("Fewer shots. Thanks, Mom!") Parents are likely to descend on their doctors soon in search of the new product.

Staff writer Amy Gardner can be reached at 829-8902 or [email protected].

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