A Vaccine Worse Than The Disease?

Jenny Marra believes that LYMErix, the Lyme disease vaccine available since 1998, seriously harmed her. The 42-year-old nurse from Ocean Township, N.J., has suffered crippling joint and muscle pain, fatigue, and periods of paralysis since receiving a second dose of the vaccine in June, 1999. Other than pain management, Marra's doctors tell her there is nothing more they can do. In April, she filed a lawsuit against the vaccine's maker, SmithKline Beecham Corp. (SBH), seeking unspecified damages. Her goal: "I'm trying to stop [the Food & Drug Administration] from approving the vaccine for children."

Dr. Neil A. Halsey feels exactly opposite. As director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins University's School of Public Health, Halsey was an investigator in the pediatric trials of LYMErix, now approved only for use in adults. The results of the trial, which included 5,000 children aged 4 to 18, showed that LYMErix is safe and even more effective in kids than it is in adults, he says. The FDA is reviewing the study and other data as part of SmithKline's application to market LYMErix for children. "I would never have participated in pediatric studies if I believed it was harmful," says Halsey.