India’s 1st nasal spray swine flu vaccine on the horizon
POSTED June 26, 2010 - 17:01 | POSTED BY Neharika Sabharwal
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on June 26, 2010 - 17:54
Serum Institute of India (SII) has received the green signal from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to market the country’s first intra-nasal indigenous H1N1 flu vaccine.
The vaccine Nasovac, which is going to be launched in the domestic and the foreign market, is expected to hit the shelves for commercial use within the next 10 days.
Following extensive research and successful clinical trials, Cyrus Poonawalla, chief managing director of the SII, is already administering the vaccine to his staff, friends, children, and doctors.
Poonawalla stated, “This is a user-friendly vaccine and we are in the process of completing formalities.
"We want to ensure adequate stock of doses of the vaccine and, depending on the reaction from the public, will initially manufacture half-a-million doses in July and another one million in August. We will test market conditions before manufacturing on a large scale.”
The 1st nasal spray vaccine for H1N1
The vaccine has been tested to be safe for children, and anyone over the age of three can be administered without any adverse consequences.
Nasovac, meant for Type A (H1N1) pandemic strain, is a nasal spray in powder form, which has to be reconstituted by adding the supplied water. Its one 0.5ml dose will cost around Rs150.
Dr Rajeev Dhere, senior director of SII stated, “The vaccine is delivered into the nose through a device fitted on top of a syringe. A quick spray in each nostril and the body develops antibodies to protect against H1N1.”
H1N1 update across the nation
According to reports from the ministry of health and family welfare issued by Press Information Bureau, India has witnessed as many as 1,540 deaths till mid June 2010 since the outbreak of the virus last year.
The hardest hit state is Maharashtra where 474 people succumbed to the influenza with 243 falling prey to it in the Pune district alone.
To-date, more than 130,000 persons have been tested for swine flu in government and private laboratories across the country with nearly 24 percent of them testing positive.
The intensity of the pandemic was such that it had spread its tentacles in 30 states and all the Union territories.
Even though the trend in H1N1 infection is on the decline globally, it has started surfacing in many states of India.
Health officials are warning the public against a second round of swine flu that monsoon may bring in its wake.
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