ComBE Five is a “five-in-one” vaccine that can help fight against five common, potentially fatal diseases affecting infants - diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza type B. (Photo: cphi-online.com)Hanoi (VNA) – ComBE Five vaccine will be used nationwideto replace Quinvaxem from late December after it was tested in seven provinces,the Ministry of Health announced on December 18.
Produced by Indian vaccine manufacturerBiological E. Ltd., ComBE Five is a “five-in-one” vaccine that can help fightagainst five common, potentially fatal diseases affecting infants -diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza typeB.
ComBE Five has received the World HealthOrganization’s pre-qualification approval and more than 400 million dosesof the vaccine have been administered to children in 43 countries and territories.
ComBE Five obtained a license from the Ministry of Health in May 2017 and sinceOctober this year, the vaccine has been administered to more than 17,300children aged 2 – 4 months in the provinces of Ha Nam, Bac Giang, Yen Bai, KonTum, Binh Dinh, Dong Thap and Ba Ria – Vung Tau. The children were closelymonitored in the three days after immunisation
About 5.5 percent of the children had minor side effectswhile three others had severe reactions,including high temperature, seizures and trouble breathing. They were quicklytreated.
In the past decade,the Korean-made Quinvaxem vaccine has been used in Vietnam’s national expandedimmunisation programme which offers free vaccination against dozens of diseasesfor babies from newborn to 36 months old. Quinvaxem manufacturer Janssen has haltedproduction worldwide.
About five milliondoses of Quinvaxem are used yearly for about 1.7 million babies aged under 1year old in Vietnam. According to health experts, ComBE Five has the samequality and ingredients as Quinvaxem. — VNA
VNA
