Pediatricians praise pentavalent vaccine, question cost

Lowering the number of injections may increase the number of children vaccinated, but experts worry that inadequate reimbursement levels could stall widespread use.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Dec. 9, 2002.

Kids can expect fewer vaccine shots in the future.

With the promised, year-end introduction of a vaccine to include antigens for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and hepatitis B, doctors will be able to reduce the number of injections their youngest patients must endure in a single visit.

The pentavalent vaccine, which insiders expect to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration this month, will be manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline and is expected to be the first of an increasing number of vaccines that protect against five and even six diseases.

"It's less painful for the child. It is less stressful for the medical staff that is administering the vaccine, and it's less stressful for the parent who's watching it," said Edgar Marcuse, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Experts say multivalent vaccines may increase vaccination rates and make parents more willing to let children get all the shots they need in one visit, rather than scheduling multiple appointments, which can lead to late vaccinations.

"I'm excited about it," said Robert Yetman, MD, professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. "If the number of vaccines we are currently giving patients is a reason for some parents to avoid getting their children immunized, then this will help eliminate this roadblock to improving our immunization rates."

Vaccines with antigens for five or six diseases are already in widespread use around the world. But in the United States no currently available vaccine includes more than three. Still, as much as physicians say multivalent vaccines are a significant step in the right direction, there are many concerns that reimbursement issues may impact the number of doctors who administer the new vaccine. [...]