Meningitis and pneumonia vaccinations halted overseas due to deaths

by Aimee Keenan-Greene

Japan's health ministry has stopped using vaccines made by Pfizer Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis SA after the deaths of four children in three days, Reuters is reporting.

Pfizer's Prevnar 13 and Sanof's ActHIB,  prevent forms of meningitis and pneumonia.

Vaccinations are suspended while the causes of the deaths are determined.  The Wall Street Journal expects investigation results as early as tomorrow.

ActHIB was given to three of the four children, who were simultaneously vaccinated with at least one other vaccine from a different manufacturer, according to Medical News Today. 

Victor Carey, the Sydney-based Asia Pacific medical director for Sanofi’s vaccines unit, told Bloomberg News "No causal relationship has been established between immunization and these fatalities, but an investigation is underway, which we're fully cooperating with."

According to a company spokesperson, Pfizer "thoroughly evaluates all reported cases and works closely with health authorities to determine if there is any association with the use of our medicines and vaccines", they added, based on the company's evaluation, the Prevnar doses administered in the four cases were from three separate lots, the WSJ has learned.

Prevnar 13 was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for immediate release to the public on February 24, 2010.

In February 2010 health authorities in the Netherlands said no relation was found between Prevnar and the deaths of three infants who had received the vaccine, according to Reuters.

About 1.5 million Japanese children have received ActHIB since it was approved in Japan in 2007, Bloomberg reports.

The World Health Organization says in 2000,  Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) caused 2 million to 3 million cases of serious disease, including pneumonia and meningitis and killed 386,000 children.