Shortages developed after Merck & Co. Inc. announced in December 2007 that it was withdrawing 1.2 million doses of its Hib vaccine because of possible contamination of equipment at its West Point, Montgomery County, facility.
Yesterday, Merck spokeswoman Amy Rose said the company considered restoring availability of Hib vaccine "a top priority." Merck hopes to have a limited supply of its vaccine, PedvaxHIB, available by the end of this year. A full supply should be available by the first quarter of 2010, she said.
Merck is investing $1 billion to update processes and equipment in West Point and to expand or build new facilities in Virginia, North Carolina, France, and Ireland to ensure long-term supply, Rose said.
Sanofi Pasteur Inc., which makes another Hib vaccine at its plant in Swiftwater, Pa., increased production but could not completely make up for the shortfall.
Before vaccines became available, Haemophilus influenzae type b, which is unrelated to the influenza known as the flu, infected 20,000 children under age 5 each year. About 1,000 died, and many of those who survived were left mentally retarded.
Vaccines had virtually eradicated the disease 20 years ago, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Hib had started to return this year. The agency could not immediately provide numbers and said it did not know whether the resurgence was connected to the shortage.
As a result of the shortages, however, the CDC had recommended that booster shots be temporarily delayed until supplies improved. Some experts said they believed that the resulting slight reduction in "herd" immunity made children whose parents declined to allow even the primary series of Hib vaccinations more vulnerable than they had been previously.
