From the Journals

Safe, effective backup for U.S. MMR vaccine exists


 

FROM HUMAN VACCINES & IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS

Antibodies against measles, mumps, and rubella persisted for up to 2 years after vaccination of children 12-15 months with the MMR vaccine approved in the United States and a similar one approved in Europe, both of which are manufactured without human serum albumin, Andrea A. Berry, MD, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and her associates said.

In 752 children aged a mean 12 months who received either the United States MMR vaccine and the European one, seropositivity for measles, mumps, and rubella persisted for up to 2 years with both vaccines. Both vaccines also were well tolerated.

Vaccine syringe copyright luiscar/Thinkstock
The children also received single doses of hepatitis A vaccine, varicella vaccine, and the fourth dose of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine concomitantly.

Because there is only one MMR vaccine licensed in the United States, interruption to this single supply line could present a public health risk, Dr. Berry and her associates said. As both the vaccines used in this study do not contain human serum albumin, the theoretical risk of microbial contamination is reduced, compared with previous formulations of MMR.

Read more at Human Vaccines Immunotherapeutics. (2017. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2017.1309486).

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