Limited Supplies of Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine -- United States
There is a shortage of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) in
the United States. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the
manufacturers (Pasteur Merieux Serums & Vaccines, S.A. {Lyon,
France} {IPOLTM} *, and Connaught Laboratories, Limited
{Willowdale,
Ontario, Canada} {POLIOVAXTM}), and the distributor, Connaught
Laboratories, Inc. (Swiftwater, Pennsylvania), are working to
resolve the shortage.
Until IPV becomes readily available, CDC recommends that its
use be restricted to 1) never-vaccinated persons aged greater than
18 years who are at risk for exposure to wild poliovirus (e.g., who
will be traveling to areas in which poliomyelitis is endemic), and
2) persons for whom oral polio vaccine (OPV) is contraindicated
(i.e., persons diagnosed with or living in a household with a
person with a congenital or acquired immune deficiency).
Inadequately or fully vaccinated adults who have previously
received IPV or OPV and need poliovirus vaccine can be given OPV
(1,2). OPV continues to be recommended routinely for all children,
except as noted above.
If supplies are not available locally, poliovirus vaccination
of persons for whom OPV is contraindicated should be delayed until
IPV becomes available. Because no case of polio resulting from
indigenously transmitted wild poliovirus has been reported in the
United States since 1979, postponing vaccination for these persons
until IPV is available is not likely to pose a risk to those
persons. Unvaccinated adults who may be exposed to wild poliovirus
during travel to polio-endemic areas and cannot obtain IPV should
consider vaccination with OPV but should be informed that the risk
for vaccine-associated paralytic polio is slightly higher in adults
than in children (1,2). Otherwise, these persons should avoid
activities or travel that might result in exposure to wild
poliovirus.
Information about obtaining IPV for high-risk persons is
available from the distributor, Connaught Laboratories, Inc.,
telephone (800) 822-2463. MMWR will provide updated information
when the shortage is alleviated.
Reported by: Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and
Drug Administration. National Immunization Program, CDC.
* Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification
only and does not imply endorsement by the Public Health Service or
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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