Kenta Morioka, 4, died last year from suffocation caused by a bacterial infection. But the vaccine that could have saved his life, in use for 16 years and offered in 120 countries, wasn't available in Japan.
The world's second-largest economy only began vaccinating infants against haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib — one of the most common causes of meningitis — in December. The shot, made by a unit of Sanofi-Aventis SA, didn't get Japanese approval until 2007. And vaccines against other deadly bacteria, including meningococcal and pneumococcal infections, have still not been approved for infants here.
"I only learned that there are vaccines available elsewhere after Kenta fell into a coma," said the boy's father, Daishi Morioka, 40. "The memory of my son will never fade away. I had my daughter inoculated as soon as the vaccine became available."