Tetanus vaccine is safe, experts say
The controversial tetanus vaccine is still being investigated by a joint team of experts and Kenyans will still have to wait longer for a comprehensive report.
Three samples are due for further tests as the Chairman of the conference of Catholic Bishops Stephen Karanja briefed the press on the progress of investigations on the controversial Tetanus vaccine.
Experts from the Ministry of Health and the Catholic Church said while the preliminary results from a local laboratory showed that some vials contained beta HCG, majority of those tested were negative.
The Catholic Church claimed that the vaccine administered to women contained a birth control matter.
“The total number of vials was 59. Three of the tested vials were found to contain beta human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG). These three vials were collected from the field during the campaign and submitted as open vials having being previously tested in other laboratories,” said the Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Nairobi Fred Were, who is a co-chair of the committee.
He also mentioned that all the other 56 vials tested were found to be negative for beta HCG including those with batch numbers corresponding to the three vials that tested positive.
During the March and October 2014 campaign period, nine vials from the Kenya Catholic Bishops Conference (KCCB) were tested and found to contain beta HCG.
However, this raised the question of contamination in the process of collection and storage since the vials were open.
The vaccines were then submitted to two laboratories, one local and another in Germany; the final results are expected next week and will be released to the public.
The committee was formed to look into the matter following the church’s concern that the tetanus toxoid vaccine contained a substance that causes infertility and miscarriages.Therefore, a fresh round of medical tests had to be carried out.
The committee recommended that there be regular checking of vaccines brought into the country.
Nicholas Muraguri, the director of Medical services in Kenya assured the public that they have nothing to fear since the results were a positive indication.
Nonetheless, he said that they would still examine the three vials that were found to contain the substance for further clearing up.
http://dgfpbd.blogspot.com
The controversial tetanus vaccine is still being investigated by a joint team of experts and Kenyans will still have to wait longer for a comprehensive report.
Three samples are due for further tests as the Chairman of the conference of Catholic Bishops Stephen Karanja briefed the press on the progress of investigations on the controversial Tetanus vaccine.
Experts from the Ministry of Health and the Catholic Church said while the preliminary results from a local laboratory showed that some vials contained beta HCG, majority of those tested were negative.
The Catholic Church claimed that the vaccine administered to women contained a birth control matter.
“The total number of vials was 59. Three of the tested vials were found to contain beta human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG). These three vials were collected from the field during the campaign and submitted as open vials having being previously tested in other laboratories,” said the Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Nairobi Fred Were, who is a co-chair of the committee.
He also mentioned that all the other 56 vials tested were found to be negative for beta HCG including those with batch numbers corresponding to the three vials that tested positive.
During the March and October 2014 campaign period, nine vials from the Kenya Catholic Bishops Conference (KCCB) were tested and found to contain beta HCG.
However, this raised the question of contamination in the process of collection and storage since the vials were open.
The vaccines were then submitted to two laboratories, one local and another in Germany; the final results are expected next week and will be released to the public.
The committee was formed to look into the matter following the church’s concern that the tetanus toxoid vaccine contained a substance that causes infertility and miscarriages.Therefore, a fresh round of medical tests had to be carried out.
The committee recommended that there be regular checking of vaccines brought into the country.
Nicholas Muraguri, the director of Medical services in Kenya assured the public that they have nothing to fear since the results were a positive indication.
Nonetheless, he said that they would still examine the three vials that were found to contain the substance for further clearing up.
http://dgfpbd.blogspot.com
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