Hanoi (VNA) - The Drug Administration of Vietnam under the Ministry ofHealth has requested a halt to purchases and use of three batches of HumanAlbumin 20% due to concerns over Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
This medicine is albumin extracted from human plasma and used tostabilise blood circulation, while Creutzfeldt-Jakobdisease is a fatal brain disorder that kills 90 percent of all sufferers withina year of diagnosis.
Therequest followed an announcement from the Economic and Trade Commission, theDelegation of the European Union to Vietnam and a warning from the Italian DrugAdministration and Hungarian National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition onthe issue.
Atpresent, the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease infection has not been confirmed.
Thesuspension was to ensure the safety for users while awaiting evaluation fromthe administration and the Hungarian counterpart, the administration said in adispatch sent to heath departments, hospitals and businesses trading theproduct.
Healthfacilities nationwide were ordered to monitor, detect and deal with thepotential side effects of the medicine. A report on any incident should also besent to the national centre of pharmacy information.
The CoduphaCentral Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company, Binh Viet Duc Co Ltd and CentralPharmaceutical CPC1 Joint Stock Company were asked to temporarily stopimporting, purchasing, selling and distributing the product.
They wererequested to manage the product and inform trading businesses and treatmentfacilities to suspend the purchase, sale and use of Human Albumin20%, 500ml bottle.
A report onthe quantities of products left in stock is believed to have been submitted toDrug Administration of Vietnam before today (September 20).
According toa report from the Binh Viet Duc Co Ltd, three batches of Human Albumin 20%produced by Hungary’s Human BioPlazma Manufacturing and Trading LimitedLiability Company, including 29610616, 29700916, 29590616, have been importedinto Vietnam.
The Binh Viet Duc Co Ltd was also asked toco-ordinate with the manufacturer to update information on the circulation ofthe medicine to Vietnamese authorities.-VNA