Vol. 531 No. 4
69 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason batches of polio vaccine which were past their use-by date were given to children for more than two years according to press reports (details supplied). [5508/01]
Following my announcement in December 2000 in relation to the recent issue involving Medeva oral polio vaccine used in Ireland which contained human serum albumin produced from a plasma pool, where one of the donors had recently been diagnosed as having the variant form of Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease – vCJD, health boards were requested to have immunisation records examined in order to establish the extent of usage of the vaccine batches concerned. In the course of this examination, information came to light which suggests that vaccine from the batches concerned was administered after its expiry date.
At my Department's request, the health boards are currently conducting an examination of records in order to establish the extent to which this may have occurred. It is not clear at this stage how vaccine may have come to be administered after its expiry date. I requested expert advice in relation to the safety and efficacy aspects of this issue from the immunisation advisory committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. The committee has advised that the efficacy of the vaccine is reduced if it is administered more than one month after the expiry date and that the vaccination should, therefore, be repeated in such cases. My Department has written to the chief executive officers of the health boards advising them that parents of any children who received any dose of oral polio vaccine more than one month after its expiry date should be contacted and advised of the need to have the immunisation repeated. The health boards were asked to advise general practitioners and all other relevant health professionals of the situation.
In addition, the chief executive officers of the health boards are currently establishing a national immunisation steering committee, which will address a wide range of issues relating to the primary childhood immunisation programme. This will include consideration of the protocols for administration of vaccines, whether new mechanisms need to be developed to guard against possible use of vaccine which has passed its expiry date and to ensure that vaccines are administered in accordance with best practice.
