Thursday, January 23, 2014

India Vaccine News - Pentaxim vaccine shortage in India

In keeping with the global vaccine shortages that have become a part & parcel of the vaccine industry, PENTAXIM (5 in 1 painless DtaP with hib & IPV Combination vaccine - Sanofi Aventis) is at present out of stock in India.
The alternative options for parents / pediatricians are limited. Only 1 painless DTaP is brand is available at present (INFANRIX - GSK) and this can be mixed with Act - HIb (Sanofi Pasteur, as per personal communication / internal study of Sanofi). Injectable Polio (IPV) would need to be given separately.
Expected shortage to last till at least 1 month (15th to 20th feb 2014)



42 comments:

Diana said...

hello, me and many other mothers have already given our babies 1, 2 or 3 doses of pentaxim ,what can we do now? do we have to give vaccine of pertussis again?

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

NO,
There is no need to repeat DPT again. You can consider giving the next doses as DTwP - the regular DPT vaccine. However we need to balance the possible increased protection against some temporary increased side-effects like fever pain swelling and crying etc.
I am not planning to change my daughter's vaccination from DTaP to DTwP for the 5 year vaccination.

deepajegan said...

Hi, 3rd dose of Pentaxim due date fo r my daughter is 24th March. Still Pentaxim is not available. Hospital say they are expecting in second week of April. Is it fine to wait for a week more considering we have already 10days delayed ? Or we need to go for Pentavac (Heard its similar to Pentaxim which wll have pain and fever for kid.

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

Here is what I am doing,
For children completing the primary series (less than 6 months old), I am recommending using whatever vaccine is available - the DTwP brands like Pentavac, easyfive, qquinvaxem etc. to continue the vaccination, rather than wait and delay these vaccinations against serious illnesses.
For children coming at 1.5 years for booster doses, waiting for a few weeks is not that critical, PLUS the chances of local side-effects are also more. Hence I am giving the option to parents to decide if they want to wait, or take the DTwP combinations as mentioned above.
Regards
Dr Gaurav Gupta

Dhara said...

Doctor I want to know if quinvaxem is a painless one. Cos my doc said that its painless. Pls let me know.

Dhara said...

Doctor is quinvaxem also painless. Cos my doc said that. Pls let me know.

Diya said...

My baby is 19 months... I am still waiting for her booster dose Pentaxium vaccine to be given at 18 months...is it ok for me to wait till the vaccine comes or should I give her an alternative vaccine.. Can you please let me know the duration for this vaccine to be given? Is it ok for me to wait till that time?

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

There is NO scientific evidence to back the claim that QUINVAXEX is painless, or is similar to the DTaP vaccines. It is more expensive, but that does not mean that it is definitely better than the other DTwP vaccines available,
Even after repeatedly interacting with the company representatives I have not found ANY written evidence regarding the superiority of this vaccine over others,
Regards

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

For children coming at 1.5 years for booster doses, waiting for a few weeks is not that critical, PLUS the chances of local side-effects are also more. Hence I am giving the option to parents to decide if they want to wait, or take the DTwP combinations as mentioned above.
Regards
Dr Gaurav Gupta

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

For children coming at 1.5 years for booster doses, waiting for a few weeks is not that critical, PLUS the chances of local side-effects are also more. Hence I am giving the option to parents to decide if they want to wait, or take the DTwP combinations as mentioned above.
Regards
Dr Gaurav Gupta

Tittu said...

Hello Doctor,
We have been waiting for pentaxin since my child was 18 months old. he is 20 months now. should we wiat or try alternative methods. Is it too late?

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

It is NOT too late to take the booster dose at ANY age as far as DPT/ Tdap boosters go.
At 20 months, I would recommend that you take Pentaxim since there are a few doses not available.
Regular stock is not expected before July 2014, as per present information

Suresh said...

I've been hearing that pentaxim is banned in india. Is it true? Is it alright to wait and give him the same?

Unknown said...

There are news that Pentaxim is banned in India it was stopped a long time ago in the West due to its low protection against Whooping Cough. So why are we still talking about Pentaxim?

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

Pentaxim is NOT banned in India. This statement is completely incorrect. We had received a few doses, but they are again out of stock, Next batch expected in another few weeks, say end June 2014
Regards

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

There is controversy about using the 'painless' DPT vaccine Dtap in place of the normal DTwP. This does NOT mean that Pentaxim is banned in India - or in any other country. There are concerns over possible lower rates of protection, and ongoing scientific studies will address this issue further.
I again repeat that the next dose of Pentaxim is expected by the end of June 2014 as per information available.

Balaji said...

Good Evening Doctor,

Understood that pentaxium is not available.Can you please elaborate on the alternative (I think the name is COMVAT3 and IPV0.Both are injections and supposed to be painful.
As it is know that the baby will have fever and the extreme pain when injected in the thigh,is there some precaution we need to take (like paracetamol drops) to subside it faster..FYI..my baby is 5 months old.

Please advice

Balaji

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

Ok,
Let us first get some things in perspective.
There is no real need for serious concern just because a particular brand of vaccine is not available.
ALL of us have received the so called more painful DTwP vaccine only.
Even today more than 90 % population of our country is getting DTwP vaccine routinely without any serious side-effects.
Coming to your question now ....
We have many brands of DTwP available, including Easy 5, COMVAC, PENTAVAC, QUINVAXEM etc.
At present a single 'less painful' DTaP brand is also available - INFANRIX by GSK, and you should ask your pediatrician regarding that too.
You can certainly take paracetamol drops to help reduce the pain & swelling and irritability & fever in this situation.
Warm regards
Dr Gupta

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

Ok,
Let us first get some things in perspective.
There is no real need for serious concern just because a particular brand of vaccine is not available.
ALL of us have received the so called more painful DTwP vaccine only.
Even today more than 90 % population of our country is getting DTwP vaccine routinely without any serious side-effects.
Coming to your question now ....
We have many brands of DTwP available, including Easy 5, COMVAC, PENTAVAC, QUINVAXEM etc.
At present a single 'less painful' DTaP brand is also available - INFANRIX by GSK, and you should ask your pediatrician regarding that too.
You can certainly take paracetamol drops to help reduce the pain & swelling and irritability & fever in this situation.
Warm regards
Dr Gupta

Balaji said...

Thanks Doctor.

NASSIR said...

Can we use Infanrix against pantxim .INFANRIX is aviable in india

NASSIR said...

Can we use INFANRIX vaccine against pantxim. Is INFANRIX is aviable in India.

NASSIR said...

Can we use Infanrix against pantxim .INFANRIX is aviable in india

NASSIR said...

When we expected the pantxim is aviable in market

NASSIR said...

Is pantaxim banned ? Any chance have availability of pantaxim

NASSIR said...

Is pantaxim banned ? Any chance have availability of pantaxim

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

Pentaxim is likely to become available again in the coming couple of weeks - by end june 2014

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

Infanrix can be used in place of Pentaxim, however IPV would need to be given separately.
Also, Infanrix is also short at the present point of time !

raksha said...

my baby is 3 and half months old , 1st of DPT is lost in first month becoz of unavilability, then108 is given the next month by infanrix, now 2nd dose is to b given but infanrex is also shot, what to do plz suggest, how long these vaccines has to b given till 1 year or so, i am worried,plz explain

raksha said...

my baby is 3 and half months old , 1st of DPT is lost in first month becoz of unavilability, then is given the next month by infanrix, now 2nd dose is to b given but infanrex is also shot, what to do plz suggest, how long these vaccines has to b given till 1 year or so, i am worried,plz explain

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

Dear Raksha,
I can understand your anxiety.
Here is what I have been recommending.
For children who are taking their primary vaccine course (meaning the doses in the first year of life), please use whatever DPT vaccine is available, DO NOT DELAY for more than a few days.
So I would suggest taking the 'normal' DPT (DTwP) vaccine.
You can try taking QUINVAXEM, which 'may' have slightly less chances of fever / pain & swelling as compared to the normal DTwP) vaccines. Otherwise any normal brand like Pentavac, Easy five, Comvac etc can be taken.
If there is significant fever & swelling, give Paracetamol drops to the baby after discussing with your pediatrician.
Warm regards

Unknown said...

@Doctor please (an early reply please)

My son is presently 19 months old and has been administered three doses of LPV which caused him very high fever. ,Now he needs to be administered the booster dose. can he now be given "painless" ACELLULAR vaccine breaking from the chain of Whole cellular LPV? Will it be effective. Is it advisable to switch over from Whole celluar to Acellular?

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

There is a huge controversy about using DTaP vaccine among pediatricians in India.
However, for practical purposes, it is my opinion that you can switch to DTaP vaccine (acellular pertussis) vaccine in this situation if there has been a significant reaction in the first 3 times when you have used the DTwP (normal whole cell) vaccine.
This is because the side-effects at 19 months are likely to be more than what your child had experienced at an earlier age.
There is no problem in switching from wP to aP vaccines otherwise.

Unknown said...

If there is no problem in switching over to DTaP then what is the controversy about? Is DTaP equally effective? We are in a dilemma as the local padiatrician advised that DTwP is preferred. However, due to very high fever he advised to switch over to Infanrix.

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

In simple terms, the controversy is that the gentle DTaP is probably slightly less effective than the previously used DTwP.
In this case, the latest guidelines from IAP suggest that DTaP should not be used in the first series of primary vaccination - children below 6 months age.
However, for practical reasons, in case of significant fever / side-effects with DTwP many pediatricians feel that since DTaP is being used across the developed world even now, we can probably switch to DTaP in this situation when a child/ parents are not comfortable with DTwP.
I hope that answers your question?

Unknown said...

Hello Dr
My kid is 5.3 year old. And is due for DTaP vaccine. We have been waiting for the vaccine from last 3 months but still unavailable. Should we go for DTwP, or wait for more time. Can we wait more. Please suggest.
Thanks
Vikas

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

This is a slightly different that what is being discussed in the present blog, however my personal suggestion is to wait for the next few months, since in my opinion DTwP at 5 years can lead to significant local reactions & fever.
My daughter too has just turned 5, and I am awaiting the new batch of DTaP vaccine too :)

Unknown said...

Any idea, when new batch of DTaP would be available.

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

Sometime in Feb 2015, most likely,
Regards

Unknown said...

Hello Dr.
Just want to know if you have any update on DTaP.
Thanks
Vikas

Dr. Gaurav Gupta M.D. said...

Pentaxim was available for a month or so, however it is again out of stock.
Now I am recommending QUINVAXEM since it is a DTwP vaccine that has fairly less side-effects as compared to other DTwP vaccines.

Unknown said...

Thanks Dr.