H1N1 Vaccine Doses Recalled; May Not Be Strong Enough

Hundreds of thousands of doses of a swine flu vaccine have been recalled after tests found they may not be potent enough to protect against the virus.

About 800,000 doses of an H1N1 vaccine made by French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur are involved in the recall, according to an Associated Press report. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified doctors about the recall today. Other details of the recall are still emerging.

The recalled vaccine doses come in pre-filled syringes and are intended for use in children between the ages of six months and nearly three years. Children that age are supposed to get two doses of the vaccine spaced about one month apart.

Officials said they don’t know how many doses of the recalled vaccine have already been administered, but they aren’t calling for children who have received the shots to be re-vaccinated. – at least not yet.

The lots of the vaccine being recalled passed potency tests when they were first shipped, but later tests found the potency of the shots had been reduced, officials said.

Swine Flu Shots Tied to Paralyzing Muscle Disorder

This is not the first time the H1N1 swine flu vaccine has been associated with complications. Soon after the shots became available to protect against the potentially fatal strain of influenza virus, some patients developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), a severe paralyzing muscle disorder. Health officials have said they are investigating the possible link between the swine flu vaccines and GBS, which also appeared in greater numbers during the swine flu outbreak of the 1970s.

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