CDC details yellow fever vaccination errors in the United States

A brief report in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report describes yellow fever vaccination errors at a military clinic. According to CDC, in March 2017 four people at the clinic were accidentally each immunized with a five-dose vial of the vaccine. The product is available in packages containing five single-dose vials with five 0.6-milliliter (mL) vials of diluent provided separately, or a five-dose vial with a 3 mL vial of diluent provided separately. None of the patients experienced any adverse events. The incident was reported to CDC's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). A review of the database for similar errors identified nearly a dozen since 2007, including a cluster of seven at another military clinic. CDC noted that reports of yellow fever dosing errors are uncommon. Steps to prevent errors could include more distinctive packaging and additional training for clinics that carry both sizes of vials.