Schlagwort: who

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Medical Product Alert N° 6/2019 (English version)

This Medical Product Alert relates to confirmed falsified hydrochlorothiazide that has been found to contain glibenclamide instead of hydrochlorothiazide, circulating in the WHO region of Africa. Adverse effects attributed to these products have been reported. Genuine hydrochlorothiazide is used as an antihypertensive and diuretic medicine, whereas glibenclamide is an antidiabetic medicine.

In March 2019, WHO was informed by a nongovernmental organization in Cameroon that a medicine presenting as hydrochlorothiazide 50mg had caused hypoglycaemia in patients. Preliminary testing indicated that the product did not contain any of the stated active ingredient, hydrochlorothiazide, and glibenclamide had instead been identified. Verification with the stated manufacturer confirmed this product to be falsified. The local health authorities were informed of this incident.

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Medical Product Alert N° 5/2019 (English version)

This Medical Product Alert relates to the circulation of confirmed falsified Mencevax ACWY in the WHO region of Africa. Genuine Mencevax ACWY is used to prevent meningitis types A, C, W and Y.

On 15 March 2019, the Ministry of Public Health in Niger issued a call for vigilance regarding the circulation of falsified Mencevax ACWY vaccines. This WHO medical product alert provides the details of those products which have been confirmed as falsified to date. Inquiries indicate that the supply chain route of these falsified
vaccines includes other countries in West Africa: as such, increased vigilance is requested in all countries of the region, at all levels of the supply chain.

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Medical Product Alert N° 4/2019 (English version)

This Medical Product Alert relates to the circulation of confirmed falsified DUKORAL in the WHO region of South East Asia. Genuine Dukoral is a WHO pre-qualified oral cholera vaccine.

WHO was recently informed by the manufacturer Valneva that 8000 falsified packs of the oral cholera vaccine Dukoral were distributed in Bangladesh. WHO country office and health authorities in Bangladesh have quarantined the falsified vaccines identified to date.

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Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 – Indonesia

On 12 February, a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) has been confirmed in Papua province, Indonesia. Two genetically-linked VDPV1 viruses were isolated from a child with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) with onset of paralysis on 27 November 2018 and in a healthy community contact, a child whose stool sample was collected on 24 January 2019. The location of this healthy child, with the VDPV isolation, is in a remote village, approximately 3–4 km away from the AFP case with onset of paralysis on 27 November 2018. Even though this province shares a border with Papua New Guinea, this outbreak is not linked to the cVDPV1 outbreak currently affecting its neighbouring country.

WHO and partners are supporting the Ministry of Health (MoH) and local public health authorities in conducting a field investigation, a thorough risk assessment and planning an outbreak response. The exact extent and timing of the outbreak response is being finalized. Initial outbreak response immunization (ORI) has been conducted in Yahukimo district and 5718 children under 15 years of age have been immunized with bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV). Disease surveillance, including conducting retrospective and active searches for additional acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases, has been further strengthened in community health centres, hospitals and other health facilities including all districts and cities in Papua province. Surveillance has also been strengthened at entry and exit ports and monitoring notification and reporting through the Early Warning, Alert, and Response System (EWARS) has been reinforced. Other provinces have been alerted to improve immunization and AFP surveillance.