The cold chain provides a controlled temperature supply in products of diverse origin and use.
This guarantees the consumer that the product has been kept at the appropriate temperature, both during the manufacturing process and during transport.
Key to food security
The cold chain is key to food security, since it controls the temperature of the products from collection or processing to their destination, the final consumer.
It is also very important for the preservation, not only of food products, but also of special products such as medicines and vaccines.
Pharmaceutical products, when subjected to the cold chain, go through a series of actions necessary to guarantee the objectives of vaccines.
Throughout this article, we will focus on the cold chain in medicines and vaccines and why they need more care.
Why do these special products need to be in the cold chain?
There are a large number of pharmaceutical products that need the temperature to be maintained between 2 ° C and 8 ° C for their preservation and transport, as well as when leaving the laboratories and also when they are being used.
In addition, these medicines and vaccines must be placed in a refrigerated isothermal packaging to prevent, on the other hand, the product from freezing.
In most vaccines, reagents for clinical analysis and biological preparations it is really important that this cold chain is not broken because it can cause serious problems for people who use those products.
The most delicate stage for these medicines and vaccines in the cold chain is transport, specifically, the time that elapses before and after removal from the warehouse.
If these products spend a short period of time outside the cold chain, it can lead to the reproduction of pathogenic microorganisms, infectious agents that would cause a disease in the patient.
Currently, more than 40% of vaccines cannot be used since there are no totally reliable cold chains that can guarantee the correct operation of these products.
If the preservation and transportation of these medicines and vaccines in the cold chain were improved, many more lives could be saved.
How to preserve pharmaceutical products in the cold chain?
Preservation of medicines and vaccines is best achieved through crushed or granular ice produced by ICE QUEEN ice machines thanks to the vertical cylindrical evaporator and a high-resistance spindle.
These machines regulate the humidity of the ice according to the applications and uses of the product and according to consumer preferences.
It is mainly for this reason that granular or crushed ice is perfect for laboratory use as it rapidly cools biological samples, prevents the degradation of proteins, nucleic acids and enzymes.
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