2018 is a eventful year for vaccines in China. I thought I could finish the year in the joyful atmosphere of preparing for the Spring Festival, but I was disturbed by a vaccine [wrong shot] incident.
On January 31, at Huitong Health Service Station in Qiaoxi District, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, a child was supposed to be vaccinated with a quintuple vaccine of more than 600 yuan, but when he was about to be vaccinated, he became a single vaccine of more than 100 yuan.
The whole thing surfaced thanks to a careful parent.
The 600 yuan vaccine was wrongly planted into the 100 yuan vaccine, which turned out to be intentional.
On January 30, 2019, Ms Feng and her husband in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province took their children to Huitong Community Service Station to receive the third dose of quintuple vaccine. It was found that the vaccine packaging used by the nurse was different from before.
After looking through the garbage can, the parents turned to the packaging box of HIB vaccine and insisted on obtaining monitoring.
According to the monitoring, the vaccine packaging box that the nurse vaccinated the child was not a pentavalent vaccine packaging worth 600 yuan, but a Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine (HIB) worth more than 100 yuan.
How did the children’s quintuple vaccine become HIB vaccine?
Parents chose to call the police on the spot. The police and epidemic prevention departments rushed to the scene to check and found that:
- The storage records of the community health service center show the relevant information of 26 pentavaccines. The computer system also recorded that 26 children were vaccinated with the vaccine. However, the visitor registration form shows that 44 children have been vaccinated with pentavaccine.
After two days of investigation, the Shijiazhuang Qiaoxi District People’s Government issued a circular today saying:
Shijiazhuang Qiaoxi District Huitong Community Health Service Center is a private medical institution purchased by the district government. Vaccines supplied by the center are distributed by the district CDC with qualified quality.
The vaccination staff in the center mistakenly used Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine (HIB) as a quintuple vaccine to vaccinate a child, which is true.
The vaccination work in the center is not standardized and the management is chaotic.
According to the latest news of the surging news on February 2, the police have confirmed after intervening in the investigation that the wrong vaccine was deliberately changed by the nurse.
At present, Huitong Community Health Service Center has closed down for rectification. Vaccination personnel have been suspended and investigated. Existing vaccines have been sealed up and evidence has been retained. Public security and health supervision departments have conducted detailed investigations.
Wei Jingli, head of Huitong Community Health Service Center, took criminal coercive measures according to law because he was suspected of committing a crime.
Vaccines are wrong and spend money for nothing, exposing children to risks.
Quintuple vaccine, which contains poliomyelitis, DPT and Haemophilus influenzae type B (HIB), is one of the hottest vaccines at one’s own expense.
It can effectively prevent poliomyelitis (commonly known as poliomyelitis), pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus and meningitis, pneumonia, epiglottitis, septicemia and other diseases caused by Haemophilus influenzae type B, and can also allow babies to take 8 fewer shots of vaccine.
The five-dose vaccine is about 600, and four injections are not cheap. I thought it would make children suffer less from injections and give them as much protection as possible.
In this incident, the money was wasted and the child was put in danger.
The [wrong species] of vaccines will not harm the health of children, but due to the absence of the other two components (poliomyelitis and DPT), the antibody level against these components in children’s bodies will be low or even there will be no antibody. Artificially exposing children to the infection risk of these diseases is undoubtedly equivalent to [streaking] in the virus.
At the same time, there are still parents who have vaccinated their children with quintuple vaccines at the health service station who reported on Weibo that their children were wrongly vaccinated.
What should parents do in the face of repeated accidents of vaccines
If Ms. Feng, who disclosed the incident, had not been careful enough, I do not know how long the incident would have been hidden.
It was her careful and practical vaccine problem.
It was her trueness and intransigence that prevented the matter from being settled hastily in the subsequent on-site investigation.
In order to prevent the vaccine from being planted by mistake, we invited vaccine expert Mr. Taulina to give parents the following three suggestions:
1. Check the information before vaccination
Before taking the child for vaccination, try to ask the vaccination doctor to check with you the type, manufacturer, batch number and validity period of the vaccine to be vaccinated. The contents registered on the vaccination certificate must be consistent with the information of the vaccine in kind.
2. Keep that package after inoculation
Parents should try their best to keep the vaccine packaging box (with vaccine type, manufacturer, batch number, production date and validity period) and instructions. They can scan the 20-digit bar code on the packaging box with mobile phone Alipay. The feedback information comes from the authoritative national database and can inquire about the authenticity of the vaccine and key information.
If this information is inconsistent with the vaccination record on the vaccination certificate, please ask the vaccination doctor to revise the vaccination record on the vaccination certificate (the computer should also revise it simultaneously).
3. After shooting relevant information, inquire
If you cannot take away the packaging box and instructions, you should also try your best to take pictures of the key information on the packaging box.
Eliminating the vaccine problem requires laws, systems and conscience.
In July 2018, Changchun Changsheng Vaccine Incident
January 2019, Jiangsu Jinhu Expired Vaccine Incident
…….
The past year has been a dark year for vaccines. I hope every negative event of vaccines can become the fuse of vaccine reform.
At the end of 2018, the publication of the draft of the “Vaccine Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China” also means that the issue of vaccine administration will rise to a new level of law.
The vaccine problem is no small matter. From production to transportation to final vaccination, every link needs to be strictly controlled.
This requires not only the requirements of laws and regulations and strict control of procedures, but also the conscience of every relevant employee.
(Part of the popular science content in the article comes from Taolina Public Number [Vaccines and Science], which is especially appreciated here.)