SUSPENSION OF DPT VACCINE

Following the decision by the Department of Health in the Republic of China for an immediate temporary suspension of the use of Connaught Laboratories' DPT triple vaccine, the DoH has set up a taskforce to carry out a thorough local investigation. Several infants in Taiwan were alleged to have died after inoculation with the vaccine, but preliminary toxicity tests from the taskforce have indicated that the product is safe, according to Connaught.

DPT is a combination of formalin-inactivated diptheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccine used for primary immunization. The temporary suspension applies to one batch of the vaccine, coded 3876-11 and comprising about 500,000 doses, from which the doses given to five out of the seven reported infant fatalities were obtained, according to local reports (Marketletter March 23).

According to the Free China Journal, the news has caused widespread concern amongst parents in Taiwan, and some have refused vaccination for their children. However, health officials have warned against such over-reaction, as any lowering of the vaccination rate could carry the risk of serious epidemic disease. It has been suggested that there has merely been an unfortunate coincidental, temporal link between fatalities from other causes, and the immunization program.