H1N1 Vaccine Production Plodding, But 49.9 Million Doses Available

Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Anne Schuchat, Director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases acknowledged the slow production of H1N1 vaccines, but says there are nearly 50 million doses available to the States for use.

“Like everyone, I’m disappointed in the initial production,” said Schuchat during a hearing with the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "However, today we can announce there are 49.9 million doses available of H1N1 vaccine for the states to order."

"Its not as much as we wanted to have by now, or, frankly what we needed to have by now, but every dose is being rapidly moved out," Schuchat added.

Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) praised the initial response to the virus, but also recognized the dangers posed by the vaccine shortage.

“The hope was that a robust vaccine supply would arrive before infections began to soar and everyone worked as quickly as possible to meet that goal. These hopes were not met. The past several weeks have reminded us that the process of making flu vaccines is unpredictable and challenging,” said Waxman.

Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Nicole Lurie was grilled by Rep. Greg Walden (R-Oregon), who was diagnosed in late October with H1N1.

"We had testimony September 15 from Secretary Sebelius and everything seemed to be on track and fine. So, explain who, did the manufacturers, weren't they straight with you?" asked Walden.

"There's nobody to blame here, there's no smoking gun," Lurie said.

CDC estimates nearly 22 million Americans have been infected with H1N1. Of the 22 million infected, 98,000 were hospitalized and nearly 4,000 have dead.

New H1N1 Vaccine Study Shows Good News For Pregnant Women

By Laura Smith - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Health officials announced today that there are about 30 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine available for states to order.

The annoucement was coupled with good news for people who health officials believe are at serious risk of contracting the virus. Anthony Facui, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that results from a series of vaccine tests done on groups such as pregnant women were encouraging.

“The data show that nearly all the pregnant women who received a single 15 microgram dose have a robust immune response that is likely predictive of protection,” Facui said.

He added that children between six months and nine-years-old who receive a 15 microgram dose of the vaccine had a “less robust immune response” and would most likely need a second dose of vaccine.

Not all of the news surrounding H1NI is positive, however. Anne Schuchat, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the virus has spread to all but two states in the U.S. Schuchat was hopeful that, as the number of hospitalizations and deaths as a result of the virus continue to increase, so will the medical response nationwide.

“We expect more vaccine doses to become available and eventually shipped out to the states for use,” she said.

A full report on the study was posted today on flu.gov.

Swine Flu At Level Five

By Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
The World Heath Organization has raised the alert level for the swine flu pandemic of the phase 5, one step away from the highest level.

The CDC continues to evaluate information to determine the potential impact of an outbreak on an international level.

In Mexico more than 2,000 people have been hospitalized and 149 people have died from the flu. In the United States there are 66 confirmed cases in six states; New York, California, Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Indiana. Globally there are 39 confirmed cases in six other countries including New Zealand, Spain, Great Britain, Germany, Canada, and Israel.

Today, the House Sub-Committee on Health heard testimony from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to understand the full impact of the virus.

U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) said that, “We should not wait for public health emergencies to come up with ad-hoc responses. Not even counting this recent flu outbreak, about 35,000 Americans die of regular seasonal flu each year.”

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention has determined that the swine flu is highly contagious and contains genetic pieces from four different virus sources. There is no evidence that the illness comes from pork products, but it seems to come from human to human contact. Symptoms include high fever, body aches, coughing, and sore throats, all similar to regular seasonal flu, but the regular flu shot is not preventative of this new virus.

Anne Schuchat, M.D., acting director for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that “it’s a very unusual virus and we don’t believe that humans have experienced it before.”

U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) , M.D. said that America needs to be careful “not over reacting to the point that we create a pandemic of panic.” Gingrey said that although it is reassuring that Americans are prepared for an outbreak, he said that “I fear we are getting ourselves in a frenzy.”

Bacon Won’t Close Borders

By Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News Service
Wed, April 29, 2009
The death of a 23-month-old in Texas marks the first confirmed swine flu death in the U.S.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has implemented its emergency response and has determined that the flu contains genetic pieces from four different virus sources, one of which is
swine flu. The CDC continues to evaluate information to determine the potential impact of an outbreak on an international level.

President Obama has asked for an additional $1.5 billion to combat the disease.

Today, U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CO) said that “this swine flu is moving very quickly and harmfully.” Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headaches, chills and fatigue

On Sunday the flu was declared to be a public health emergency and the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to phase four.

United States Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said that the U.S. has 50 million courses of anti-viral medication and 25 percent of the stockpiled courses are being released with priority given to
states with confirmed cases and border states. By May 3rd all states will ultimately get resources. Work has also begun towards developing a vaccine since the currently flu shot doesn’t protect against the
swine flu. “This will be a marathon, and not a sprint,” said Napolitano.

Warnings have been issued for non-essential travel to Mexico but closing borders “has not been merited by the facts” said Napolitano, and would have “very very little marginal benefit in terms of containing the actual outbreak of virus within our own country.”

Napolitano affirmed that although named “swine flu,” no signs of this newly identified H1N1 virus have been detected in our nation’s swine, no illnesses have been attributed to handling or consuming pork, and
that there is no evidence that one can get the virus from eating pork or pork products. The virus is actually spread from human to human, similar to a seasonal influenza.

RADM, Anne Schuchat, M.D., said that “we are dealing with a novel virus, we don’t know yet all of the characteristics of how it will behave in human populations.”

While 36,000 people die every year from regular seasonal flu, the new virus brings risk for a future pandemic since “the general population doesn’t have immunity to this virus,” said Schuchat.

According to Lieberman, in Mexico more than 2,000 people have been hospitalized and 149 people have died from the flu. In the United States there are 66 confirmed cases in six states; New York, California, Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Indiana. Globally there are 39 confirmed cases in six other countries including New Zealand, Spain, Great Britain, Germany, Canada, and Israel.

“This is a case in which our government was prepared for the crisis, as best one can be prepared for a swine flu outbreak whose course is not clear,” said Lieberman.