Be alert with varicella vaccines

  PDL has recently received several incident reports where the incorrect varicella vaccine has been prescribed and/or supplied. Prescribing software programs have variations on how the vaccines are described, potentially leading to confusion for prescribers and pharmacists. Most reports indicate the intended varicella vaccine is for the prevention of chickenpox however transcription and selection errors have seen herpes zoster (shingles) vaccines provided. PDL is concerned about these errors, especially since PDL’s statistics show incidents involving children are more likely to …