Google – AFP, 24 October 2012
Italy has
banned the use of three flu vaccines produced by Novartis
(AFP/File, Lionel
Bonaventure)
|
ROME —
Italian, Swiss and Austrian authorities on Wednesday halted the sale of flu
vaccines made by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis.
The Italian
health ministry said it has banned the sale and use of several flu vaccines
produced by Novartis pending tests into possible side-effects.
"The
health ministry and the Italian medicines agency (AIFA) have decided to take
the precaution of banning immediately the use of the vaccines" Aggripal,
Fluad and Influpozzi, it said.
On the
basis of information supplied by Novartis, AIFA "has decided that it is
necessary to carry out further tests regarding the quality and the safety"
of the vaccines, which "can produce collateral effects," the
statement said.
In
Switzerland, the national drug agency Swissmedic said it was ordering the
"immediate halt of flu vaccine deliveries from Novartis," due to
"possible impurities".
The alarm
was raised after white particles were seen in syringes carrying the vaccines,
Swissmedic said, stressing that they could be nothing more than little clumps
of the vaccine's components.
The Swiss
decision affects some 160,000 vaccine doses, Swissmedic said, adding that it
was unclear whether the problem affected vaccines already available in
Switzerland.
The freeze
on sales of the vaccines and their use was "a simple precaution" and
those who had already been vaccinated for the flu "had nothing to worry
about", it added.
In Austria,
a spokeswoman for Novartis's Austrian subsidiary said that "further
deliveries of the Novartis flu vaccines were stopped today (Wednesday)."
She added
that the move was a precautionary measure following the moves by Italy and
Switzerland.
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