Health officials in B.C. are warning parents of toddlers who were vaccinated in parts of China last year that they may need to go back to the doctor’s office.
The warning from the BC Centre for Disease Control (BC CDC) targets two batches of vaccines for DTP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, or whooping cough) that were recalled in October 2017 after they failed testing.
The centre says children who were vaccinated in either the city of Chongqing or the provinces of Shandong or Hebei when they were two years old or younger may not be fully immune to the disease and may need additional vaccinations.
Parents are advised to check their immunization records specifically for vaccinations that were administered between March and October 2017, and contact their local health authorities.
The centre says there are no safety or health concerns with the vaccines beyond not being fully effective.
Changsheng Biotechnology, the company that produced one of the vaccines, is in the midst of a national scandal after it was revealed last week that the company falsified production and testing records while manufacturing rabies vaccines.
Chinese state media has reported more than 250,000 doses of the company’s DTP vaccine had been sold before it was recalled.
With files from The Associated Press