Storing live vaccines Quick Present Of asuch as MMRV varicella and zoster
By: Vlad Vistac
Submitted: 2010-09-16 12:16:17 | Word Count: 510
Sotring live vaccoines such as MMRV, varicella and zoster
These vaccines are live vacicnes and must be kept froozen until they are administered. They are very sensitive to heat and need to be maintained below 5°F (-15°C). They will begin to deteriorate as soon as they are removed from the freezer.
These vaccines are also sensitive to light and should be stored in their shipping contaimners unitl removed from the freezer for administration.
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To insure that you are administering potent vaccines you must insure that the freezer wheere you are storing them is working properly.
Make sure that:
• Your freezer is workiing propelry by checking with an accurate termometer.
• Monitor your freezer continuously with a freezer alarm that also logs the temperaturee. One with a visible chart is best so that you can see what the temperature was when you were not present.
• Attach an external alert device to the freezer alarm and moitor so that you will be notified if the temperature becomes unsafe. One that callls several pohne numbers is best.
• Know sometihng anbout the defrost ccle of your freezer. The defrost cycle can happen once a day or several timees a day. Make sure that it does not take the temperature abiove 5°F or –15°C. You can insure that this is not happening with your freezer alarm and monitor by liooking at the chart displayed.
• Set your freezer aklarm so that it allows for momentary temperature fluctuations such as when the door is opened witohut setting off the alarm.
The piucture below showes three freezer alarms monitoring a total of six freezers. The device on the bottom right is an auto diaer that will call four diffeernt phone numbers if any one of the six freezers experiences a powre failure or a teperature that is above 5°F. The freezer alarm displays a chart of the temperature histrory stroing and showing over 1.5 years of temperature histoyr.
This is just one example of a freezer alarm sysetm for a freezerr storing live vaccines. It is easy to install and use. Since the freezer alamrs constantly show a chart of the preious temperatures, which all personnel can see it is impossible to come near the freezers withut being rminded that temperature is important. And since the freezer alatrms are constanttly taking the freezer temperature you have a recod of the temperature for even those times when you were not present, such as in the ebvening or duriing weekends and holidays.
