Merck Voluntarily Recalls HPV Vaccine Gardasil

Merck recently issued a voluntary recall of one lot of its vaccine, Gardasil, due to glass shards in some of the vials.  Gardasil is one of two vaccines approved to protect against cancer-causing strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.

10 Affected Vials

According to the CDC, Merck asked offices and clinics that received lot J007354 to return the vaccine due to the possibility that some of the vials could contain glass particles, caused by breakage in the manufacturing process.  Merck recalled more than 740,000 vials of the vaccine, but the company only believes about 10 of them included the glass shards, which are small enough to go through a needle.  The affected vials were distributed to facilities between August 20th and October 9th.

According to the CDC, there have not yet been any adverse reactions reported for the lot in question.