Tetanus Shot Crisis Prompts Rationing

Hospitals nationwide are rationing adult tetanus shots, reserving them for burn victims and other severely injured patients, because of a huge shortage of the vaccine.

So far, the crisis concerns only adult versions of the vaccine, not the children’s vaccine. But experts are watching to see whether the shortage spreads, and they worry about adult illnesses this spring, when vaccine demand rises along with a seasonal jump in injuries.

Supplies already were tight because of production difficulties when Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories last month suddenly stopped making the vaccine altogether, calling it “a business decision.”