I've always wondered about the vaccines that we got when we were children and those given today. What are they infecting into us?

Read the following story decide for yourself.

About 1 million doses of two types of childhood vaccines are being voluntarily recalled by Merck & Co. because of possible microbial contamination, and will result in a serious vaccine shortage, health officials said yesterday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the company announced the recall late yesterday involving 11 lots of the PedvaxHIB vaccine and two lots of the COMVAX vaccine. Both provide protection against Hemophilus influenzae type B, a bacterium that can cause a serious form of pneumonia, and a condition called bacterial meningitis. Both vaccines are often popularly referred to as the Hib shot. All affected lots were manufactured after April.

Merck decided to recall the vaccines after tests at its Pennsylvania manufacturing plant revealed a malfunction in the sterilization process.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, described the Hib vaccine as vital to public health. Before development, there were an estimated 20,000 cases of Hib-related infections annually and 1,000 children died each year. "Now, there are fewer than 100 documented cases of Hib annually," Gerberding said.

Even though the bacterium's name sounds as if it is related to the flu, it is an entirely different organism and has no relationship to influenza, which is a respiratory illness triggered by a virus.

Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said children who already have received vaccinations from the recalled lots should be monitored for a few days for reactions such as "redness, rash or bumps." If there is no reaction, then the child "is out of the woods."

Schuchat added that 14 million doses of Hib vaccine are needed nationwide to meet recommended immunizations for infants and toddlers.

Until the company can return to production, the CDC will try to ease shortages by distributing some of the 750,000 doses of Hib vaccine it has stockpiled. The agency is working with Sanofi-Pasteur, the only other licensed manufacturer of Hib vaccine, to bolster supplies.

Newsday.com