COLD CHAIN IN A HOT CLIMATE

We monitored the temperatures of batches of vaccine during transport a nd storage from a national warehouse to five Northern Territory vaccin ation clinics, Electronic temperature monitors were placed with vaccin es, and were programmed to record the temperature every 30 minutes for up to three months. A diary was attached to each vaccine batch to rec ord each change in location. The temperature recordings covered 8369 h ours. There were regular temperature deviations outside the recommende d range. In the hot climate of the Northern Territory, freezing is the greatest threat to vaccine potency Recommendations from the study inc lude: routine use of cold chain indicators, increased vaccine turnover and storage of vaccines within an operational temperature range of 4 to 8 degrees C. Research is needed to investigate the efficacy of heat -stable vaccines when stored at ambient temperatures and in air-condit ioned environments.