The pharmaceutical company Aventis Pasteur Inc. issued a nationwide recall yesterday of its meningococcal vaccine, which may have been administered to University students who received the vaccine after Jan. 1, 2001.
All students received information about the recall via e-mail from the Department of Student Health.
The meningitis vaccine administered Nov. 7 at Newcomb Hall was not among the recalled lot, according to Student Health Executive Director James Turner.
Turner also stressed that the 192 students who received a recalled vaccine from Student Health already were notified by mail.
"Any student who received a recalled vaccine would have received a registered letter from Student Health," he said. "If a student received a meningococcal vaccine from Student Health and did not receive a registered letter, then they did not receive a recalled lot of the vaccine."
The recall was the result of data that indicated the Menomune-A/C/Y/W-135 vaccine may have the potential for reduced protection against the disease caused by serogroup A, according to Aventis Pasteur Spokesman Len Lavenda.
"Every vaccine has a shelf life, and we keep a sample of vaccine from every batch we produce and test it periodically to make sure it is still effective," Lavenda said. "Some doses from the lots lost potency after a year, and as a precaution we recalled all remaining lots administered up to one year later."
Menomune-A/C/Y/W-135 is given in both single-dose vials and 10-dose vials. Only the single-dose vials were affected by the recall, Lavenda said.
"There was something in the single-dose vials that made them lose potency, and we are trying to find out what that was so we can fix it and distribute the vaccine again," he said.
The recall likely will not endanger most college students and will only effect those travelling to parts of the world where serogroup A is prevalent, Lavenda said.
"Serogroup A virtually does not exist in the U.S. -- only in Africa and certain parts of the Middle East," Turner said. "If you received the vaccine simply because you are a college student in the U.S., then you don't have to worry about the recall."
Only those intending to travel to high-risk areas should be concerned with revaccination, he added.
"I received the meningitis vaccine from my doctor at home, but I'm not too concerned about the recall since the risk in the U.S. is so small," first-year Engineering student Jorge Rodriguez said.
Lavenda advised anyone with further questions to contact their health care provider.
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