SWINE viruses are back – but this time they don’t seem to be making anyone sick.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reported that stocks of Merck’s vaccine against rotavirus are contaminated with the pig viruses PCV1 and PCV2. But the agency has not advised doctors to stop using it as the pig viruses aren’t known to cause disease in humans, and rotavirus kills roughly half a million infants worldwide each year. An FDA advisory panel said the vaccine’s benefits still outweigh its risks.
The FDA plans to monitor recipients for pig virus-related illness. “There will be quite…
