Travelling with Interferon

[dishcell]

Does anyone know if Frio cooling insulated packs are suitable for keeping interferon injections cool whilst travelling. I noe that Interferon data sheet says to store at 2 - 8 C whereas the Frio products just guarantee a temperature of 18 to 25 C, a vast difference.

[Not2bad]

Hi dishcell

I used the frio pouch for travelling to the USA this summer.

I kept the interferon in my hand luggage during the flight and transfer (at least 10-12 hours in total).

When I got to a fridge it was still pretty cold.

I had read during my research that interferon can be stored at room temperature even though there's a big sticker on the box to keep it chilled!

Best of luck

Finbar

[dishcell in reply to Not2bad]

Thank you, very reassuring, I had heard that other refrigerated medicines did have a safe amount of time they could be unrefigerated so hoped that would be the case with interferon.

[Otterfield]

I got really stressed about this when I travelled by car to Scotland from SW England in the heatwave last summer. I used a Frio bag and it was still cool-ish, but later I read that interferon is fine out of the fridge for up to 21 days, if you only do it once. When I talked to my consultant about it, he didn't seem to think it was a big deal anyway, if one dose was slightly less effective.

[dishcell in reply to Otterfield]

Thank you very good to hear this.

[bloodyblood]

I actually called Roche about this, and they told me that Pegasys can normally be out of the fridge for 24 hours, but that it depends on the batch number...so they told me that to be certain you had to call Roche and let them check the batch number of each syringe. It sounds pretty insane, but that is what they said! They also said that the Frio pouch is not really suitable....but I guess they are better than nothing