H1N1 vaccines: ACIP to set priorities
POSTED July 30, 2009 - 22:06 | POSTED BY Jaspreet Kaur
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on July 30, 2009 - 22:06
Other than this, the expert panel also aims to come up with methods to deal with the U.S. flu season by ensuring that people are administered the seasonal flu vaccines alongside the swine flu ones.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesperson Tom Skinner said, “I think at the end of the day we’ll have a firm idea who will be recommended to receive vaccine against novel H1N1.
"We might expect to see various sets of recommendations that take into account a certain number of doses being available at any given time during our flu season.”
Number of cases could rise
The H1N1 flu has become so common these days that the WHO (World Health Organization) has stopped bothering about individual occurrences.
In fact, the situation looks grim with the health experts fearing a further increase in the number of cases during the influenza season in the Northern Hemisphere that begins in the autumn.
It is worth mentioning here that the U.S. government has already arranged for 195 million doses of the flu vaccine with its eyes on a vaccination campaign in autumn.
Companies that are involved in manufacture of the H1N1 vaccine for the United States include AstraZeneca's MedImmune unit, Australia's CSL Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Novartis AG and Sanofi-Aventis SA.
However, uncertainty prevails about the number of vaccines on hand.
Majority of the experts believe that people would possibly require two doses of the vaccine for complete immunity to the virus.
While some studies advocate limited immunity in people aged over 50, some others suggest vaccination of school children as an effective method to manage the swelling up of the disease.
Students most vulnerable
H1N1 is known to afflict people with chronic diseases badly besides young adults and older school children.
It is well known that schools offer breeding grounds for respiratory illnesses. Students then bring these bugs home making others also susceptible to disease.
Trials by vaccine makers and academic centers are on to determine the amount of dose that can be termed as safe and effective.
