This morning according to the Associated Press, health officials recalled 800,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine intended for children aged 6 months to 3 years made by Sanofi Pasteur.  Apparently, the doses were NOT recalled for any adverse events but for lack of potency. Whew!  At least it isn’t because of serious side effects.  Of course, if your child got this particular vaccine, it may mean that they didn’t develop immunity.  The article states that health officials do not think children need to be re-vaccinated.  As of this morning, I checked the Center for Disease Control website as well as the Sanofi Pasteur website and can’t find any formal statement about the recall or efficacy/safety issue of the vaccine.  Maybe they are working on it now.  Here’s the link to the article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091215/ap_on_he_me/us_med_swine_flu_vaccine.

The good news is that we haven’t been seeing quite as much activity from the H1N1 in recent weeks.  Hopefully, the height of that epidemic is over.  We still have the regular influenza season to contend with but hopefully, that won’t be any worse than most years.

What should you do if you think your child received that less potent vaccine?  You probably don’t need to do anything or worry since the recall wasn’t for a safety issue.  However, you can always call and check with your doctor if you have any specific questions or concerns.

Tags: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Influenza, Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, Sanofi Pasteur, Vaccine