September 24, 2007	Monday	Ramazan 11, 1428

PESHAWAR, Sept 23: A committee of senior doctors has expressed dissatisfaction over results of tests on vaccines which caused severe after-affects among people in flood-hit areas of the city two months back.

More than 500 people had fallen ill after getting vaccinated, which prompted the health department to form a committee to probe the matter.

The results of tests on the vaccine were made available to the committee last week by the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad.

The NIH said that the vaccines had been prepared in line with the international standards and the reaction might have been caused by problems in cold chain.

The committee has asked the government to send it to any laboratory recommended by the WHO.

“We have asked the health department to get it tested through the WHO because the NIH being the manufacturer could not be expected to describe it as harmful,” said a committee member.

On June 30, the health department began vaccinating people in the flood-hit areas against typhoid and cholera, but many people fell unconscious after being vaccinated.

Soon after the incident, the health minister formed a committee to look into the matter.

The executive district office which procures the vaccines from the NIH had claimed that the expiry date was October 2008.

The inquiry team member said that one person had been admitted to the ICU and five others to the medical ward of the Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar.

“We had recommended to the health department to get the vaccines tested from a WHO-recommended laboratory two months back because the committee members feared that the NIH might not give correct information about the vaccines,” said a committee member.

The NIH report said that the reaction-like symptoms might have been caused by leakage of vials during the vaccination drive in the flood-hit areas.

It said that the vaccine was safe for human consumption.

The NIH had also provided leaflet bearing information about the vaccines.

The vaccine causes an adverse reaction of drowsiness, skin rash, low blood pressure, nausea and vomiting.

The committee said that they had recommended on June 10, the day of the incident to suspend anti-typhoid and cholera vaccination in flood-affected areas of the province.

Till the availability of the report from the WHO’s recommended laboratory, we cannot recommend the health department to administer the same vaccines to people.

There is no epidemiological data that could suggest efficacy and safety of the vaccine over certain period since its launching.