45 Million Doses Of Swine Flu Vaccine On The Horizon

A vaccine for H1N1 is being developed and is currently undergoing clinical trials, according to Robin Robinson, Director of the Biolomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“We’re looking at at least 45 million doses, with 20 million doses each week coming out after that,” Robinson said during a telephone meeting Friday with HHS’s National Biodefense Science Board.

The vaccination campaign is slated to begin in October.

“The vaccine will be shipped to the health care providers, retail pharmacies, or to the state and local health facilities for administration, either through the public health clinics or special mass vaccination clinics,” said Jay C. Butler MD., Director of the Center for Disease Control’s H1N1 Vaccine Task Force.

Schools Receive New Swine Flu Information

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

Federal health officials released information Friday detailing steps schools can take to combat the spread of the H1N1 flu pandemic, including keeping infected children out of class for 24 hours after the fever ceases and promoting basic hygiene.

The announcement was made by the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Education, along with Tom Frieden, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

One change since the end of last flu season is what is known as the period of exclusion. That is how long those with H1N1 should remain away from others, including how long a child should remain out of school. It is now 24 hours after the fever is gone.

The guidance is not specific in terms of whether or not schools should close when there is an outbreak. Instead, they said the ultimate decision is a local decision but they will continue to provide any information. Frieden said it is not always necessary to close the school but agreed with Education Secretary Arne Duncan who discussed the alternative preparatory steps being taken in schools.

Three steps Frieden mentioned were: keep those who are sick home, wash hands, and cover coughs. He said following these simple steps could be used when deciding whether or not to keep a school open even when cases have been reported.

“The guidance we are announcing today will give local school officials the tools they need to make informed decisions about how to decrease exposure to the school while limiting the disruption of day to day learning in schools,” said Janet Napolitano, Department of Homeland Security Secretary.

The guidance issued was for K-12 schools and guidance for higher education institutions is expected to be released by August 23.

The secretaries and CDC Director all discussed the development and availability of the H1N1 vaccination, saying it should be available by mid-October and will be a 2 shot vaccination.

Health Care Employees Must Get Priority For Swine Flu Vaccine, Says WHO Official

By Laura Woodhead - Talk Radio News Service

Health care employees should get priority for the H1N1 vaccine, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended Monday. While there is no official priority ranking for who should get the vaccine first, immunizing health care workers would insure that the health care system would be able to properly combat a possible spread of the virus said Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, Director of the WHO Initiative for Vaccine Research.

"Health care workers should be immunized in all countries in order to maintain a functioning health care system" she said. "They need to remain in good health condition to care for pandemic influenza sick people."

While health care employees are the WHO's main recommendation for priority, there are other vulnerable groups that countries should think about vaccinating first said Kieny. These groups, which include pregnant women and people with chronic illness, have an increased risk of mortality with the H1N1 strain. The obese are also included in the WHO's list of vulnerable peoples.

"Obesity has been observed as being one of the risk factors for most severe disease with H1N1 influenza." Kieny said. The Director added that "people with a body mass index over 30 or even more over 40 have a higher chance of having a severe disease."

Kieny stressed that the WHO's vulnerable groups are simply recommendations, and should be evaluated on a country by country basis.

"Countries will have to take decisions that are adapted to their own national situation" Kieny said. "There is an identification of options, but no ranking, no priority given to these options."

The H1N1 vaccine is expected to be fully licensed by the end of the year, Kieny said.

Swine Flu Still Going Strong

By Learned Foote- Talk Radio News Service

The H1N1 virus, widely known as swine flu, is responsible for 127 deaths and more than 27,000 documented cases of infection in the U.S., explained medical experts Tuesday.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, discussed the implications of the virus’ spread. He clarified the difference between seasonal and pandemic influenza, while noting that the two categories of disease could potentially overlap.

According to Fauci, seasonal flu is “exquisitely predictable,” and the population has immunity to similar strains of the disease. The seasonal flu causes approximately 36,000 deaths per year in the U.S.

The pandemic flu is comparatively unpredictable. Fauci said that this sort of virus is “new enough that the...vast majority of the population has had not only no exposure to the virus, but they haven’t had exposure to anything that’s even related to that virus.” Because the population has no “residual immunity” to this new virus, the disease is more likely to harm young people, who normally are not deeply affected by the seasonal flu.

The World Health Organization declared a flu pandemic for the first time in 41 years on June 11th.

Fauci said that many measures to protect the public’s health have been taken over the past several months, beginning with low-tech measures such as closing schools. The CDC has isolated the virus, and five companies are currently working to create a vaccine to potentially be administered to the population dependent on a more deadly or wide-spread H1N1 strain.

He said that the recent strain of H1N1 is not as dangerous as other related viruses.

“It’s not killing a high percentage of people, and the same thing holds true for transmissibility,” said Fauci.

Fauci also noted that the virus has been “remarkably constant” and not susceptible to mutations that could render a vaccine ineffective. “Can it change to the point of veering away from the vaccine we’re making? Yes. Is it doing it? No.”

Dr. Harvey V. Fineburg, President of the Institute of Medicine, warned that health care officials should not underestimate the potential threat, even though a campaign to immunize millions of Americans overestimated the impact of the virus in the 1970s.

“In 1976, the focus of policy-makers and public health authorities were almost entirely driven by the worst case. Today we have to be careful not to make the complementary error of having all of our attention only on the most likely case,” Fineburg explained.

The mortality rate for documented H1N1 cases in the U.S. is 0.46 percent.

Vaccinations: The Illusion Of Adult Invincibility?

By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service

Adults are more at risk of catching potential deadly disease than they might realize, according to the American Medical Association.

Jason Spangler of Partnership for Prevention, AMA representative Dr. Litjen Tan and Executive Director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases Len Novick combined forces in a call for action to alter this risk.

Spangler, Dr.Tan and Novick want to push for greater awareness on the possibility to reduce death by vaccine-cured diseases by checking adults’ updates on their vaccinations.

As the concern for the H1N1 virus dissipates, the environment has recently been propitious to the discussion of how the spread of potentially deadly viruses could be prevented following recent estimates of a total 46 H1N1-caused deaths worldwide.

The collaboration of Partnership for Prevention, NFID and AMA leads expert to agree that “there is no strong infrastructure to immunize adults in the United States”, said Tan.

According to them there will not be an improvement in the number of deaths by curable viruses so long as adults continue to believe in what Novick calls an “illusion” that adults do not need vaccines as much as children or the elderly.

As Novick said, both patients and their physicians are to blame for this problem, as patients “wait for doctors to raise the issue (of vaccination)”, while vaccines for adults are existent “but not used as recommended”.

Tan said, “There needs to be commitment... States need to strengthen support for adult vaccination and appropriate budgets accordingly,” to which he added that vaccinations should be switched from Medicare’s Plan D, which covers the costs of prescription drugs for beneficiaries of Medicare to Plan B, where outpatient care expenses are reimbursed. Tan argues that this change in category will encourage physicians to use vaccines as “preventive services in part B.”

In addition, the NFID advocates its professional practice toolkit which aims at listing the options doctors have in order to address this issue, such as putting pamphlets on vaccination in waiting rooms.

Partnership for Prevention saluted the efforts of both the AMA and the NFID in identifying the consequences of the lack of vaccination in adults and the recommendations that both organizations made to counter this problem.