Five-in-One Vaccine Can Save Children Some Needle Sticks
Parents can expect fewer tears and needle pokes the next time their baby needs routine immunizations.
Sanofi Pasteur’s Pentacel is the first five-in-one vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and "Haemophilus influenzae" type b, or HiB. The combination vaccine reduces by seven the number of shots babies need during the first two years of life, said Dr. Jason Terk, a pediatrician in the Cook Children’s Health Care Network in Texas.
"Anytime we can prevent these diseases with a vaccine and decrease the number of injections, it’s a good thing," said Terk, the first pediatrician in the country to receive a shipment of the vaccine.
Tiffany Awalt of Keller, Texas, whose 2-month-old baby was the first to receive the vaccine, said getting fewer shots made the doctor’s visit easier for both of them.
"The bottom line is you still get all of the immunizations but with fewer needle pokes," Awalt said.
Under Texas and federal guidelines, babies typically get 23 shots before they turn 2. With the combination vaccine they will need just 16, but they’ll get the protection of 23, Terk said. Children get four doses of Pentacel: at 2, 4, 6 and 15 to 18 months.
Some of the vaccines in Pentacel were already available in smaller combinations, but the shot is the first to include protection for the five diseases.
Last month the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices added Pentacel to a list of recommended vaccines. Kinrix, a four-in-one shot made by GlaxoSmithKline, was also recommended. It protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio and is a booster for children 4 to 6 years old.
Immunizations have played an important role in protecting children from potentially deadly diseases. Before a pertussis vaccine was available there were 200,000 cases of the disease, also known as whooping cough, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today there are, annually in the United States, about 7,000 cases and 10 to 20 deaths.
Health officials typically adopt the advisory committee’s recommendations. Insurance reimbursement for combination shots can be an issue when a vaccine is introduced, but Terk said he expects physicians to embrace Pentacel.
Pentacel, which the Food and Drug Administration approved June 23, has been widely tested and used in Canada for the past 10 years. In clinical studies, adverse reactions to Pentacel were the same as reactions to the vaccines given separately. The most common reactions were injection site redness, swelling, fever and fussiness, according to a release from Sanofi.
Awalt said her baby had no reaction to the vaccine.
—
On the Net: