Quinvavem, the vaccine that was suspended for five months in May after nine post-vaccination deaths, has been re-used since late October, causing parents to worry since 81 kids in 13 localities have so far suffered from its side effects.

>> 27 children hospitalized after Quinvaxem vaccination >> Quinvaxem to be re-used after 5-month suspension >> Vietnam suspends Quinvaxem vaccine following 9 deaths

To date, 13 provinces and cities have re-used the South-Korean made vaccine for the National Extended Vaccination Program (NEVP) after five months of suspension, said Tran Dac Phu, head of the Health Ministry’s Preventive Health Department. They include Hanoi, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Ha Nam, Thai Nguyen, Thai Binh and Ninh Binh in the north; Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, and Khanh Hoa in the central region; and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Tien Giang, and Kien Giang in the south. Among the children vaccinated in these localities, 81 have suffered side effects of the vaccine, such as swelling, fever, reddening and pain around the injected skin area, fever and diarrhea. About 20 percent of these children also turned blue and suffered breathing difficulty.  The above side effects are not serious, but they have caused much worry among parents whose kids are subject to vaccinations, Phu said. The number of children vaccinated per day in Hanoi during November 4-5 was less than the number before May, when the vaccine had yet to be suspended. Although all of the vaccination points in Hanoi were said have been prepared well, parents there are very prudent in choosing what vaccinations to give their children. They asked health workers to provide them detailed consultations before they decided whether their children should be vaccinated or not. Meanwhile, many vaccination points in other localities have yet to be prepared as well as those in Hanoi, the department said. Among the total number of vaccination points nationwide, unqualified points accounted for 9.9 percent, according to the department’s statistics collected by November 5. The main shortcomings are a lack of rooms for consultancy, vaccination and monitoring post-vaccination; inadequate instructions on safe vaccination; and the use of one refrigerator to store Quinvaxem and other biological products.Safety concerns According to a new regulation by the Health Ministry, every point of vaccination is allowed to receive 50 children per day, but parents are worrying if the regulation is really followed, Phu said. Regarding this issue, Phu said all vaccination points can be flexible to vaccinate around 50 children, but they must ensure that enough time is spent on screening before vaccination, consultancy, injection, and monitoring for 30 minutes after vaccination.   When asked by Tuoi Tre about the quality of Quinvaxem, which has caused side effects in 81 children in Vietnam and is no longer used in South Korea, where it was made, Phu replied that the vaccine has been tested as safe in both Vietnam and the UK. Besides Vietnam, more than 100 other countries have used Quinvaxem, Phu added.  Nguyen Tran Hien, chairman of the NEVP, said that no complications after vaccination have been confirmed to have been caused by the vaccine, but among the serious post-vaccination complications, as much as 40 percent have occurred from unknown causes. Therefore, parents are worried about vaccinating their children with the vaccine, Hien said. As previously reported, the vaccine was suspended by the Ministry of Health on May 4 for investigation after nine deaths and dozens of cases of severe allergic reactions among vaccinated infants from November 2012 to April 2013.