Q. My 6-year-old received a Novartis swine flu vaccination last week. My 2-year-old is getting her first injection tomorrow from a different manufacturer. My question is this: If I am lucky enough to get them a second dose, do they have to be by the same manufacturer as their first dose? I am worried I will not be able to find the booster by the same manufacturer.
- Cyndi, Orange County, Calif.
A. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is limited data describing the immune response to mixed vaccines. Therefore, when feasible, the same type of vaccine - the spray mist with its live attenuated virus or the shot with the inactivated virus - should be used in a two-dose series.
Additionally, the CDC does recommend that vaccines from the same manufacturer be used whenever possible. However, it is not mandatory.
Do you have a question or comment about swine flu that isn't being addressed?
Visit our Swine Flu home page to submit your question, and health writer Mary Shedden will get you the answer.
Helping us track it all down is the Hillsborough County Health Department, which, like us, draws much of its information from the very helpful Web sites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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