VACCINE

“Recently discovered contamination of 2 rotavirus vaccines
by pig viruses is unlikely to pose a human health threat,
according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”
Journal Of The American Medical Association (JAMA) • July 2010
Medical News and Perspectives
FDA:
Benefits of Rotavirus Vaccination
Outweigh Potential Contamination Risk
by Bridget M. Kuehn
Recently discovered contamination of 2 rotavirus vaccines by pig viruses is
unlikely to pose a human health threat, according to the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). The agency recommended in May that physicians
resume use of one vaccine, Rotarix, and continue use of the other vaccine,
RotaTeq.
On March 22, the FDA had recommended that physicians suspend the use
of Rotarix after the agency learned that academic researchers made the unexpected
finding that the vaccine contained DNA from porcine circovirus 1
(PCV1), a virus that is common in US swine but not associated with illness
in pigs or humans (Victoria JG et al. J Virol. 2010;84[12]:6033-6040). This
finding was confirmed by scientists from the FDA and the vaccine’s maker,
GlaxoSmithKline.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=186166