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Condition on Arrival
- Should not have been frozen; refrigerate on arrival.
Storage
- Refrigerate immediately on arrival; store vaccine at 2°C
to 8°C
(36°F to 46°F); storage above or below the recommended
temperature may reduce potency; DO NOT
FREEZE since freezing destroys potency.
Handling
- Should be used as supplied; no reconstitution is required.
- Shake well before withdrawal and use. Thorough agitation is
necessary to maintain suspension of the vaccine.
- Parenteral drug products should be inspected visually for
extraneous particulate matter and discoloration prior to administration
whenever solution and container permit. After thorough agitation,
the vaccine is a slightly opaque, white suspension.
General Tips
- If you have questions about the condition of the vaccine at
the time of delivery, you should immediately place vaccine in
recommended storage; and call the Merck Vaccine Customer Center
at 1-877-VAX-MERCK (1-877-829-6372), or call
the CDC at 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636).
- Rotate stock so that the shortest-dated vaccine is used first.1
- Ensure that the refrigerator is plugged into an outlet in a
protected area where it cannot be disconnected accidentally.1
- Record refrigerator and freezer temperatures twice a day in
a temperature
log.1
- It is important to use a separate sterile syringe and needle
for each individual patient to prevent transmission of infectious
agents from one person to another.
- Needles should be disposed of properly.1
- All vaccines must be discarded after the expiration date; expired
or damaged Vaccines for Children (VFC) vaccines must be returned
to your State Immunization Program.
- For vaccines that are used as supplied, no reconstitution is
necessary. Click
here for a demonstration of proper handling when reconstitution
is not required.
- For general questions concerning the proper storage and handling
of Merck vaccines, please contact the Merck Vaccine Customer
Center at 1-800-MERCK-90 (1-800-637-2590), Monday through Friday,
8:00 am to 7:00 pm ET.
- Before administering
COMVAX, please read the Prescribing
Information.
COMVAX is indicated for vaccination against invasive disease caused
by Haemophilus influenzae type b and against infection
caused by all known subtypes of hepatitis B virus in infants 6
weeks to 15 months of age born to HBsAg-negative mothers. COMVAX
should be administered at 2, 4, and 12 to 15 months of age. COMVAX
should not be administered to any infant before the age of 6 weeks.
Select Safety Information
COMVAX is contraindicated in patients with hypersensitivity to
yeast or any component of the vaccine. Patients who develop symptoms
suggestive of hypersensitivity after an injection should not receive
further injections of the vaccine.
As with other vaccines, COMVAX may not induce protective antibody
levels immediately following vaccination and may not result in
a protective antibody response in all individuals given the vaccine.
In clinical trials, the most common nonserious adverse experiences
observed in >1% of children receiving COMVAX included
injection-site reactions, somnolence, irritability, crying, and
fever (>101°F); for a listing of adverse reactions,
please read the Prescribing
Information.
Before administering COMVAX, please read the Prescribing
Information
Reference: 1.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccine storage
and handling
(Appendix C). In Atkinson W, Hamborsky
J, McIntyre L, Wolfe S, eds. Epidemiology and Prevention
of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases. 10th ed. Washington DC:
Public Health Foundation; 2007:C1–C20.
COMVAX is a registered trademark of
Merck & Co., Inc.
View storage and handling
requirements for all Merck vaccines.
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