Planning on having your child vaccinated with the Hib vaccine any time soon?  That may be difficult, since 1.2 million does of the vaccine were recalled last week ans production has been suspended by one the U.S.'s top manufacturers, and doctors are rushing to stock up even as they are advised to delay the previously-recommended timetable if giving this vaccine at the age of 12-15 months.

Hib is Haemophilus influenzae type b, a bacteria that manifests as several different diseases, including pneumonia and infections of the bloodstream, bones, joints, and lungs. Before the vaccine was developed, about 20,000 children per year developed serious related infections that were sometimes fatal, or that sometimes caused permanent damage including mental retardation.

Doctors are not optimistic about the impending shortage, which will likely affect kids in the age range in which this vaccine has normally been given since it was developed in the mid-1980's.

This one's your call. I've made my feelings on immunization known before (social obligation, the herd protection element, etc), and I dont have strong feelings about ths particular vaccine, though my kids have all received it (albeit only fairly recently). It's possible that waiting a bit until new supplies can be produced won't affect the population too greatly (although, obviously, if it's your child you would feel differently, as would I). But I have t wonder about the whole recall-of-vaccines thing: how safe are our vaccines? We place an awful lot of trust in them, myself included.

And this makes me a little nervous.

Photo: nature.com