THE INTEGRITY OF THE VACCINE COLD CHAIN IN THE HUNTER AREA OF NEW-SOUTH-WALES

Two surveys investigated the integrity of the cold chain from the State Vaccine Centre in Sydney to immunisation centres in the Hunter Area. The first examined the extent to which temperatures of vaccines in transit during November 1991 exceeded 10-degrees-C. Temperatures had exceeded 10-degrees-C for unknown periods. The cumulative effect of such cold-chain impairment and reported inadequacies in vaccine maintenance and handling by the State Vaccine Centre cannot be estimated. The second survey examined the effectiveness of refrigerators used to store vaccines by Hunter area councils and community health centres and a random sample of general practices in the Hunter. Only 29 per cent of council and community health refrigerators and 22 per cent of general practice refrigerators were effective. While the second survey described the storage environment of particular vaccines for a very short period on one day only, maintenance of such conditions could compromise the integrity of stored vaccines.