County, like U.S., nearly out of tetanus vaccine

Tuesday, May 29, 2001 | 10:56 a.m.

A nationwide shortage of an essential vaccine against tetanus and diphtheria has left Clark County Health District officials conserving supplies and limiting the doses to only the most serious cases.

Under normal circumstances, county health officials would have thousands of doses of the Td vaccine, which protects against both tetanus and diphtheria. There are fewer than 400 doses remaining in the stockpile, said Suzann Chesebrough, public health nursing supervisor for the health district.

Because Clark County's supply is critically low, only people with wounds are being given the vaccine to protect against tetanus, Chesebrough said. Travelers to high-risk areas for diptheria -- such as Algeria, Egypt, Brazil, Haiti and Vietnam -- will have to find a private doctor with the vaccine on hand, she said.

Tetanus is a potentially fatal disease transmitted by bacteria, often through dirty wounds. It can cause seizures and muscle spasms and is often referred to as "lockjaw," because of the tightening of the facial muscles.

Diphtheria is a respiratory illness that spreads through the bloodstream and attacks the organs. Although diphtheria cases are rare in the United States, the disease is more common in underdeveloped areas. An outbreak of more than 150,000 cases of the disease in southern Russia and neighboring countries since 1990 was blamed on a lack of vaccinations.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta first began warning of the potential shortage in December. The leading manufacturer of the vaccine, Aventis Pasteur, fell behind in production after maintenance work at the company's facilities took longer than expected. That, coupled with another pharmaceutical company deciding to stop production, resulted in the shortage, according to the CDC.

The CDC has recommended that health officials nationwide use the vaccine only to treat people with wounds and to prepare travelers headed to areas in which there is a high risk of diphtheria.

The health district has been using about 170 doses of the vaccine each month for wound care alone, Chesebrough said.

"If we added travelers into the equation, we wouldn't last a month," she said.

Officials hope to reverse the nationwide shortage early next year. In the meantime, students are not being vaccinated as part of regular school registration. The tetanus vaccine should be followed by a booster shot every 10 years, health officials say.

The health district is working to add to its supplies, and the state Health Department is expected to issue an advisory soon about the shortage, Chesebrough said.

Dr. Jerald Malone, who practices at the Family Medical Group in Las Vegas, said his office is running low, as well. For now, physicians are administering the vaccine to those who need it and aren't rationing the supplies, he said.

There is no cure for tetanus once a person contracts the disease, Malone said.

"Prevention is the only treatment."