Vaccine vial monitor

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A vaccine vial monitor (VVM) is a thermochromic label put on vials containing vaccines which gives a visual indication of whether the vaccine has been kept at a temperature which preserves its potency. The labels were designed in response to the problem of delivering vaccines to developing countries where the cold chain is difficult to preserve, and where formerly vaccines were being rendered inactive and administered ineffectively due to their having been denatured by exposure to ambient temperature.

Contents

History

When international vaccine care standards were being designed in the 1970s, the manuals typically generalized from the needs of care for the oral polio vaccine since that was the most delicate vaccine in wide use. [1]

In the 1970s PATH began working with the WHO to develop a system for identifying vaccines which had expired from improper storage. In 1996 the vaccine vial monitor was first used in a vaccine project, and by the next year it was widely accepted for use on many vaccine projects. It took until 2007 for VVMs to be widely adopted by vaccine manufacturers. by 2017, over 6.6 billion VVMs had been used. [2]

In 2007 in Geneva the World Health Organization hosted a commemoration of the 10-year anniversary of the introduction of VVMs. [3] In 2007 PATH won a Tech Award for the development of the VVM. [4]

Use

The vaccine vial monitor consists of a heat sensitive square within a circle. If the monitor is exposed to heat it changes color with time and with increasing speed in hotter conditions. If the square becomes the same color as the circle or becomes darker than the circle, then the vaccine contained in the vial is damaged and the vial should be discarded. [5]

Studies have shown that health workers without proper training sometimes do not understand what a VVM is or how it works. A 2007 study in urban areas of Valsad in India showed that vaccine administrators were unaware of the purpose of the monitors. [6]

Commonly monitored vaccines

The vaccine vial monitor is intended for use on vaccines which may travel outside of the cold chain, but its use on certain vaccines has had an especially notable impact.[ citation needed ]

Hepatitis B

Manufacturers recommend that hepatitis B vaccines be stored at 2-8 °C, but the vaccines actually tolerate ambient and even high temperatures for some amount of time. The use of vaccine vial monitors has helped health workers remain confident in vaccines being stored outside the cold chain. [7]

Polio vaccine

The World Health Organization has described VVMs as crucial in the spread of polio vaccination programs. [8]

Comparable technology

Electronic time–temperature indicators can detect all temperature changes, including issues of freezing vaccines which heat-detecting VVMs would not detect. [9]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccine</span> Pathogen-derived preparation that provides acquired immunity to an infectious disease

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vacuum flask</span> Insulated storage vessel

A vacuum flask is an insulating storage vessel that greatly lengthens the time over which its contents remain hotter or cooler than the flask's surroundings. Invented by Sir James Dewar in 1892, the vacuum flask consists of two flasks, placed one within the other and joined at the neck. The gap between the two flasks is partially evacuated of air, creating a near-vacuum which significantly reduces heat transfer by conduction or convection. When used to hold cold liquids, this also virtually eliminates condensation on the outside of the flask.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polio vaccine</span> Vaccine to prevent poliomyelitis

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cold chain</span> Low-temperature supply chain

Cold chain is defined as the series of actions and equipment applied to maintain a product within a specified low-temperature range from harvest/production to consumption. An unbroken cold chain is an uninterrupted sequence of refrigerated production, storage and distribution activities, along with associated equipment and logistics, which maintain a desired low-temperature interval to keep the safety and quality of perishable or sensitive products, such as foods and medicines. In other words, the term denotes a low temperature-controlled supply chain network used to ensure and extend the shelf life of products, e.g. fresh agricultural produce, seafood, frozen food, photographic film, chemicals, and pharmaceutical products. Such products, during transport and end-use when in transient storage, are sometimes called cool cargo. Unlike other goods or merchandise, cold chain goods are perishable and always en-route towards end use or destination, even when held temporarily in cold stores and hence commonly referred to as "cargo" during its entire logistics cycle. Adequate cold storage, in particular, can be crucial to prevent quantitative and qualitative food losses.

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  2. sustaining the polio-free country for global certification;
  3. eliminating measles by 2008; and
  4. eliminating neonatal tetanus by 2008.
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eradication of infectious diseases</span> Elimination of a disease from all hosts

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inactivated vaccine</span> Vaccine using a killed version of a disease pathogen

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccine storage</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccine wastage</span>

Vaccine wastage is the number of vaccines that have not been administered during vaccine deployment in an immunization program. The wastage can occur at multiple stages of the deployment process, and can take place in both unopened and opened vials, or in oral admission. It is an expected part of vaccination deployment and is factored into the manufacturing process.

References

  1. Zaffran, M. (1996). "Vaccine transport and storage: Environmental challenges". Developments in Biological Standardization. 87: 9–17. PMID   8853997.
  2. "Vaccine Vial Monitors: "The Little Big Thing:" Taking Social Innovation to Scale". Stanford Graduate School of Business. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  3. "WHO celebrates 10 year anniversary of VVM implementation". who.int. Archived from the original on June 16, 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  4. "The Tech Museum Awards - Technology Benefiting Humanity; Tech Award Laureates | Laureate Stories". techawards.org. 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  5. "Making use of Vaccine Vial Monitors" (PDF). www.who.int. World Health Organization Department of Vaccines and Biologicals. April 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 25, 2003. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  6. Chudasama, R. K. (2007). "Awareness about vaccine vial monitor at pulse polio booths". Indian Pediatrics. 44 (12): 919–920. PMID   18175846.
  7. Hipgrave, David B.; Maynard, James E.; Biggs, Beverly-Ann (2006). "Improving birth dose coverage of hepatitis B vaccine". Bull World Health Organ. 84 (1): 65–71. doi:10.2471/blt.04.017426. ISSN   0042-9686. PMC   2626514 . PMID   16501717 . Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  8. Aylward, R. Bruce; Linkins, Jennifer (2005). "Polio eradication: mobilizing and managing the human resources". Bull World Health Organ. 83 (4): 268–273. doi:10.2471/BLT.04.017426. PMC   2626205 . PMID   15868017. S2CID   10827740.
  9. Zweig, S. (2006). "Advances in vaccine stability monitoring technology". Vaccine. 24 (33–34): 5977–5985. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2006.05.007. PMID   16759766.