The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : No auto-disable syringes for immunisation today

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Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

No auto-disable syringes for immunisation today

Ramya Kannan

Ordinary disposable syringes chosen from the godown of Medical Services Corporation will be used all over the State

There is no ban on auto-disable syringes, says Director of Public Health P. Padmanabhan
However, for administering BCG vaccine, only auto-disable syringes will be used

CHENNAI: The immunisation drive scheduled for Wednesday in Tamil Nadu will be different from what it has been for the past two years: auto-disable syringes will not be used in the wake of the controversy sparked by the detection of rusted syringes.

With the controversy dogging the State’s immunisation campaign in recent months—the death of four children who were vaccinated for measles and the detection of rusted syringes—the Public Health Department is taking no chance. “We have picked up stocks of ordinary disposable syringes from the godown of the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation. They will be used on Wednesday throughout the State,” Director of Public Health P. Padmanabhan said.

Results likely in a week

Allaying fears voiced by non-governmental organisations that the State might have banned the use of auto-disable syringes, he said there was no ban. The use of such syringes was suspended pending an enquiry into the detection of rusted syringes in stocks sent by the Union Health Ministry to Tamil Nadu.

“Once the laboratory report is received, we will be able to find the causes for the rusting. After that, every syringe will be examined and used if there are no defects,” Dr. Padmanabhan said.

The results are expected in a week from the Central Drug Laboratory, Kolkata.

However, for the BCG vaccine alone, auto-disable syringes would be used, as they only fitted the volume specifications (0.1 ml), he clarified.

On an average, Tamil Nadu uses 1.5 crore syringes every year at the rate of more than 3.1 lakh syringes in an immunisation day. “We have found no problem with the auto-disable syringes being used for BCG,” he said.

Company seeks samples

Meanwhile, BD, which makes the auto-disable syringes, has requested the Union Government to allow it to obtain samples of the “defective syringes” from Tamil Nadu. “We retain some control samples for every batch that is sent out of our manufacturing plant in Spain. We have tested syringes from the batch said to have the rusted syringes and found them to be defect-free whatsoever,” Ravi Sharma, Managing director, BD India, told The Hindu. “We need to examine the conditions of storage and transportation before we can say what might have caused the problem.”

No complaints

Over the past three years, he said, the company had supplied 700 million syringes to the Indian Government for use in its universal immunisation programme, and no complaints were received. The product meets the ISO 7886-3 standard and is approved by the WHO for performance, quality and safety.

The Indian chapter of Safe Point Centre UK, a non-commercial organisation campaigning for safe injections, advises that syringes be stored in a clean, dry and insect-free space.

No acidic or corrosive material can be stored in the same location, as it can result in rusting of the steel components of the device—the needle, cannula and blade. Besides, exposure to excessive heat and sunlight may result in discolouration of outer packing, and even deterioration of the heat-sensitive components. Storing in damp places can damage the packing which may be attacked by insects such as white ants and silver fish. Sometimes, these insects generate fine holes in the primary packing, and these particles can be seen inside the device.

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