DTP-Hep B vaccine launched in 2003

DTP-Hep B vaccine launched in 2003

JAKARTA (JP): Aiming to provide affordable vaccination
packages nationwide, public company Biofarma will launch a
combined vaccination for diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) and
hepatitis B in 2003.

"The combined vaccine is currently in the clinical trial
phase. It's more efficient and cheaper compared to separate DPT
and hepatitis B vaccinations," Biofarma president Thamrin
Poeloengan said on the sidelines of an international seminar on
vaccinations last week.

Thamrin said the new vaccine would reduce vaccination costs to
under US$1 per injection, making it affordable for the general
public.

Separate DPT and hepatitis B vaccines cost $1 and 90 cents
respectively and require six injection sessions, while the
combined vaccines can be administered in three sessions,
performed every four weeks with the first injection given to two-
month-old babies.

In Indonesia, with an average of five million babies born
annually, the combined vaccination program would cost a total of
$15 million annually.

The new combined vaccine, formulated using whole cell
Bordetella pertussis bacteria as protection against pertussis, is
said to have a similar potency and side effects to the DTP
vaccine formulated with the acellular Bordetella pertussis,
extracted from the whole cell.

"But the acellular vaccine is seven times more expensive than
using whole cells," Thamrin said, referring to the expensive
acellular extraction process.

Separately, chairperson of the Indonesian Society of
Pediatrician (IDAI Jaya)'s Jakarta division, Sri Rezeki
Hadinegoro, identified that the future trend is moving toward the
use of acellular vaccines to moderate the side effects of the
whole cell method, which include fever, localized pain and
swelling following the injection.

She pointed out that the whole cell DPT vaccine has been used
for decades in Indonesia and ensured that the new combined
vaccination is completely safe and effective.

While pointing out that the national DPT vaccination program
has covered 90 percent of the targeted recipients, Hadinegoro
expressed hope that the combined vaccines can help boost
hepatitis B programs, which so far remain unsuccessful due to
failures administering the third injection, given five months
after the second one. (lup)