to think that some vaccines should carry a 'Not Suitable For Vegetarians/Vegans' label?

[Beaaware]

Having read the information on the Prevenar 13 pneumonia patient advice leaflet I was shocked to see that there is no mention of its suitablility for vegetarians/vegans. This vaccine is given to babies, young children from 6 weeks to 5 years and to adults over the age of 50.
According to the patient advice leaflet on this particular vaccine there is no actual list of ingredients other than a mention that the vaccine includes exposure to Bovine derived material and that no evidence exists that any case of vCJD (human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy) has resulted from the administration of any vaccine product.
Of course joe public would not have the faintest idea where the bovine material is sourced from or even if it has been tested for bse, but clearly there is some cause of concern otherwise why do they mention this on the leaflet?
My worry is that there is insufficient labelling to warn people that some vaccines are not suitable for vegetarians, am I being unreasonable? We have the 'Vegetarian label symbol on food packaging but not vaccine packaging, Why?

VEGAN baby milk? For real?

Also every time DS or I have had a vaccine the nurse has shown us the packaging, use by date and written down or stuck the batch number in the Red book or vaccine record. That is the opportunity to ask to see the list of ingredients. This is experience across 4 different practices and children's centres so not a one-off.

Also OP, you do know the origin of the word 'vaccine' don't you?

To be honest, I think labelling them as suitable (or not) for vegetarians just isn't as simple as all that and may put a lot of people off using them unnecessarily when there might not be an alternative. Just because bovine material has been used in processing doesn't mean it is there in the final product, where do you draw the line? This appears to be the case with Prevenar 13, no bovine materials listed in the ingredients. Also, any mammalian derived material used at any point in the manufacturing process is subject to very strict regulations to prevent transmission of TSEs.

However I think it is fair enough to highlight if the actual final product contains ingredients that are animal derived, eg lactose, gelatin.

I think people need to take responsibility.

I'm pregnant but not yet public so am having the joy of trying to select my work Xmas lunch with no alcohol, raw eggs, soft cheese or cured meat whilst trying not to make it obvious what I'm doing.

I did this by going to see the restaurant and asking what is in each of the dishes. It was a hassle but my choice to have a baby, my responsibility to keep it healthy.

Incidentally, during the biggest BSE scare back in the 90s I was 16 and doing some work experience in the biological science department of a Russell Group university. Every single on of the scientists who worked there went out that weekend and filled their freezers with the suddenly super cheap steak available.

Is this research for a dissertation about CJD?
Whatever it is, it is no more reasonable than people refusing their child a life saving blood transfusion or, as happened to my cousin, hippy 70s parents refusing allow him the medication to control his seizure resulting in him being 40 and locked in a secure unit, unable to communicate in any way and so severely brain damaged he barely functions.

personally I would rather risk CJD than be in a room with the type of person who refused their child protection because they were a vegan.

Why would I need additional information?! So a cow that was imported from Switzerland was destroyed because it was infected with Prions. The point is, it was discovered and destroyed before it entered the food chain.

Prions are transmitted by ingestion. The reason it had become more prevalent was due to the fact that herbivore animals were fed animal feed which had been made from other, infected animals.

That just isn't allowed to happen now, in the UK.

So I will politely decline your offer of a PM, thank you.

And I think you got the wrong idea about the tone of my message. Did you fail to read the two end paragraphs?

What I can't see is that labelling a medicine as vegetarian when vegetarianism is not a life threatening issue, is being entirely sensible.

And if we have Mad Cow disease, it'll be from the prion-riddled burgers we ate in the 80's, not from modern herds.