REPEVAX^®

Available from October 2004, for pre-school use in children aged 4-5 years.

Abbreviated vaccine composition: dTaP/IPV (low-dose Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussin; inactivated Polio).

Contains:

• Purified Diphtheria toxoid (2 I.U.)
• Purified Tetanus toxoid (20 I.U.)
• Purified Pertussis toxoid (PT)
• Inactivated Polio virus, types 1/2/3 (40, 8 and 32 Dantigen units respectively)
• Aluminium phosphate
• Formaldehyde
• 2-phenoxyethanol (phenol) - a preservative
• Polysorbate 80 - an emulsifier
• Polyribosylribitol - an artificial sweetener
• The inactivated polio virus is cultured on Vero (African green monkey kidney) cells
• Neomycin, streptomycin and polymyxin B - antibiotics

Undesirable effects (as reported by Dept of Health and Aventis Pasteur^®):

• Injection site pain; redness; swelling
• Headache
• Rigors; febrile convulsions and pain
• Myalgia; arthralgia; joint swelling
• Fever
• Diarrhoea & vomiting
• Lymph node swelling
• Allergic/anaphylactic reactions
• Rash, urticaria
• Guillain-Barré syndrome has been reported after vaccination containing tetanus toxoid
• Side effects of the vaccine include adverse reactions to all components

References:

• Immunisation Against Infectious Disease ("The Green Book") — Dept of Health (2004)
• Entry for Aventis Pasteur^® on http://emc.medicines.org.uk/ (Sept 2004)