15 infants die after Quinvaxem vaccination this year A meeting of health experts in Bac Lieu Province on November 26, 2013 to discuss the possible causes of the post-vaccination death of a 5-month-old girl in Hung Phu Commune. Tuoi Tre After 15 children died nationwide following Quinvaxem vaccination, health authorities said it was monitoring the situation and whether or not to discontinue the vaccination must be decided based on scientific grounds. Tran Dac Phu, head of the Health Ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department made the statement in an interview with Tuoi Tre about the use of Quinvaxem, the South Korean made vaccine meant to prevent five common, potentially fatal childhood diseases: diphtheria (D), tetanus (T), pertussis (P, whooping cough), hepatitis B (HepB), and Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib). On Tuesday, deputy health minister Nguyen Thanh Long chaired a meeting with the Central Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute, the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute and other concerned agencies to discuss the post-vaccination death of a 5-year-old girl in the southern Bac Lieu Province on November 24, the latest death so far. Phu said he does not think that the girl died due to the vaccine, since not only the girl but also 77 other children have been vaccinated with the same lot of Quinvaxem in Hung Phu Commune. The investigation into the death is underway but is facing difficulties since the girl’s family do not want an autopsy on the girl, Phu said. He also answered some other questions from Tuoi Tre. A: Since the vaccine was re-used in October 2013, hundreds of cases of side effects have been recorded. Among these cases, two children have died. Do you think such rates are too high?     According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the proportion of children with anaphylactic shock after being vaccinated with a vaccine against leukemia, whooping-cough and tetanus may amount to 20 per 1 million vaccinated children. In Vietnam, 400,000 children have been vaccinated since last month and the proportion of those with anaphylactic shock was lower than WHO’s limit. Q: Based on WHO’s rate, if Vietnam vaccinates 4.5 million children with Quinvaxem a year, there may be nearly 100 cases of anaphylactic shock. Is such a number too high? Not all cases of anaphylactic shock lead to death, but a few of them can develop into fatal conditions. However, if Vietnam reached WHO’s limit, the Ministry of Health would suspend Quinvaxem immediately. For the time being, the situation must be further monitored and whether the vaccine is continued or suspended must be based on scientific evidence. Every year Vietnam vaccinates about 1.6 million children and the diseases supposed to be prevented by Quinvaxem have been reduced considerably. We can see that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. Death toll from Quinvaxem vaccination A total of 61 Vietnamese children have died after being vaccinated with Quinvaxem, with details as follows: In 2007: 21 children In 2011: 10 In 2012: 15 In Jan 2013 until now: 15 TUOITRENEWS