As Swine Flu Spreads, Vaccine Makers Race to Catch Up
Ria Misra
Contributor
Posted:
07/27/09
Officials have counted more than 1 million suspected cases of swine flu and 300 confirmed deaths. With the Centers for Disease Control's announcement that it would no longer monitor individual cases of the H1N1 virus, the spotlight is turning to the effort to get a vaccine out of the laboratory and onto the shelves by this fall.
On Monday, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee -- a group of scientists and government officials charged with coming up with a plan for rolling out the vaccine -- issued draft recommendations for testing and distributing the new vaccine. The group called on the Department of Health and Human Services to expand existing vaccine-testing procedures and for an independent group of outside experts to be convened to check the results.
Officials are trying to strike a balance between confirming the vaccine's safety and making sure it gets out in time to stop the virus. In 1976, a different swine flu vaccine was linked to hundreds of cases of the nervous system disorder, Guillain-Barre Syndrome -- an incident that has yet to be repeated with subsequent flu vaccines. Still, some are wary of a repeat.
There are also a number of U.S. groups that claim vaccinations cause other conditions, including childhood autism, a connection that the Department of Health and Human Services says does not exist. Despite assurances from the HHS, the vaccine-refusal movement seems to be making some public headway. Earlier this summer, health officials noted that whooping cough, once thought to be almost gone from the United States, was suddenly making a comeback, which some blamed on parents who refused to vaccinate their children.
With limited supplies of the swine flu vaccine available, everyone wants to know, who will get vaccinated first? Besides health care workers, others recommended to get the vaccine first include children, pregnant women and those with underlying medical conditions. But even those groups will have to prepare themselves for a bit of a wait. A member of the vaccine advisory committee said clinical studies on the vaccine began just last week, so it would probably not be until October that the vaccine program for swine flu would begin.
On Monday, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee -- a group of scientists and government officials charged with coming up with a plan for rolling out the vaccine -- issued draft recommendations for testing and distributing the new vaccine. The group called on the Department of Health and Human Services to expand existing vaccine-testing procedures and for an independent group of outside experts to be convened to check the results.
Officials are trying to strike a balance between confirming the vaccine's safety and making sure it gets out in time to stop the virus. In 1976, a different swine flu vaccine was linked to hundreds of cases of the nervous system disorder, Guillain-Barre Syndrome -- an incident that has yet to be repeated with subsequent flu vaccines. Still, some are wary of a repeat.
There are also a number of U.S. groups that claim vaccinations cause other conditions, including childhood autism, a connection that the Department of Health and Human Services says does not exist. Despite assurances from the HHS, the vaccine-refusal movement seems to be making some public headway. Earlier this summer, health officials noted that whooping cough, once thought to be almost gone from the United States, was suddenly making a comeback, which some blamed on parents who refused to vaccinate their children.
With limited supplies of the swine flu vaccine available, everyone wants to know, who will get vaccinated first? Besides health care workers, others recommended to get the vaccine first include children, pregnant women and those with underlying medical conditions. But even those groups will have to prepare themselves for a bit of a wait. A member of the vaccine advisory committee said clinical studies on the vaccine began just last week, so it would probably not be until October that the vaccine program for swine flu would begin.