Officials from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have advised physicians to temporarily suspend the use of Rotarix, a vaccine used to prevent rotavirus infection.
The FDA is concerned that the vaccine manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline is contaminated with a second virus, called PCV-1, which infects pigs and other species but is not known to cause illness in humans or any other animals.
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The virus is believed to have come from the cell cultures used to make Rotarix, and there is no evidence that this finding poses a safety risk.
Because available evidence supports the safety of Rotarix, no medical follow-up is needed for patients who have been vaccinated with Rotarix.
Rotavirus can cause vomiting and diarrhoea in infants and children, causing around 500,000 deaths a year.
There are two licensed vaccines for rotavirus in the US: RotaTeq and Rotarix.
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By GlobalDataThe FDA has recommended the precaution while the agency learns more about the situation.
