MINNEAPOLIS — After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a warning about providers mistakenly giving babies RSV vaccines meant for adults, officials with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) wanted parents to know they're monitoring the situation closely.
"We haven't heard of any here in Minnesota to date," MDH vaccine management and improvement unit supervisor Jessica Munroe said. "So we just wanted to be proactive and let providers know that this is something being seen nationally."
MDH released a statement about the CDC's warning Tuesday, saying it had received several reports of infants receiving adult RSV vaccines instead of the newly FDA-approved monoclonal antibody immunizations.
"This product is antibodies that are ready to go and fight the infection right away, once the baby is immunized," Munroe said, describing the infant-approved immunization. "The other products are traditional vaccines and they are approved for people 60 and older, or for pregnant people. Those are traditional vaccines that do stimulate your immune system to produce your own antibodies."
The reason behind the warning, according to Munroe, is the unknown adverse effects that could be caused by the mix-up.
"There isn't clinical trials; I think that's the reason why we're letting the providers know. So we don't know what the safety of the effectiveness is," Munroe said.
And if a mix-up does happen, the official guidance is that the provider must inform the parent/guardian of the error and to report it to the CDC via email at nipinfo@cdc.gov, and copy the Minnesota Health Department at health.vaccineSME@state.mn.us.
The mix up should also be promptly reported to VAERS, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
The situation serves as a good reminder to parents that double-checking with your doctor is always encouraged.
"It's always okay to verify what product you or your baby is getting," she said. "Our health care providers are also committed to their patient's safety."
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