The virus responsible for swine flu pandemic has spread to turkeys in Chile has slowed its spread to people in the Southern Hemisphere and the United -um, and is booming in human populations in Alaska, Maine, and Japan. Pharmaceutical companies have difficulty growing the influenza virus A (H1N1) 09, which means that a vaccine against the disease will be in short supply this fall. Thus, the new H1N1 virus behaves as unpredictable as the scientists predicted it would be, said officials of the US health at a press conference today. "The behavior of this virus is still uncertain," said Jesse Goodman, deputy commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, repeating what has become the mantra of this pandemic.
Having a supply of vaccine to protect people against the virus, which is more virulent than seasonal flu, but in an unusual twist, primarily causes severe illness in young people is the most issue pressing. At this point, the US government expects manufacturers to offer 45 million to 52 million doses of vaccine in mid-October, said Jay Butler, head of the task H1N1 force to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Only about a third of the amount previously forecast CDC would be ready by then, although Butler stressed that more should be available every week, adding up to 195 million doses by the end of 'year. "Everyone is doing their best to get as much vaccine available as soon as possible," said Butler, "so that the figures may be subject to change."
Bill Hall, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human services, said science Insider that four of the five companies that it has contracted to make the vaccine took "longer than expected" to make the necessary viral antigen for the final product. in addition to growing problems with the virus, Hall noted that a vaccine manufacturer continues to make vaccines against seasonal influenza and has yet to switch to the production of the H1N1 product. a another vaccine manufacturer, based in Australia, has spent his first game in this country, which is in the winter season and the fight against its own major epidemic. There have also been delays in the production of "reagents activity "that are used to test the vaccine, he said.
The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices last month issued recommendations on how to prioritize vaccine distribution in case of shortages exist and those that have been published today in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
One aspect of the pandemic has so far gone as planned :. Clinical trials of new vaccines. The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is coordinating five different tests on eight different sites across the country who are testing whether two doses of vaccine will be needed to stimulate a robust immune response. "We expect first dose data somewhere around mid-September, if all goes well and things seem to go well second dose data somewhere around mid-October," said NIAID Director Anthony Fauci at the press conference. "There are no red flags safety," said Fauci.
Meanwhile, Chile reported yesterday that the virus had infected two flocks of turkeys near Santiago. This is the first report of the virus in birds, although pig herds in several countries have been infected, probably by human transmission to pigs. "Influenza viruses are always doing unpredictable and surprising things, though the isolation of the virus from turkeys may not be surprising, because the characteristics of pork this virus it may seem funny to say may have the capacity to infect turkeys, "said CDC Butler. Indeed, other swine flu infected turkeys. One concern is that turkeys can become co-infected with the pandemic virus and other strains, leading to a new virus more virulent that infects humans, but Butler said that this had never been observed to date.
Although uncertainties certainly remain, Butler stressed that the US government has done everything possible to limit the damage caused by the virus. "We can not stop the tide of flu any more than we can turn a hurricane in its course or stop the earth shaking during an earthquake, but we can mitigate the effects and help prevent people from becoming seriously ill by preparing well and act effectively, "he said.
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