Tag: Swine Influenza

The Lowdown on The 2009 Swine Flu Outbreak

The 2009 outbreak of swine flu or H1N1 virus is recently hugging the limelight due to the potential harm or effects it can have on a patient or on a community. Unfortunately, the source of the virus still cannot be traced.

Before the first case in the United States was discovered, the illness was believed to have started in Mexico which eventually spread to other countries. Recently, the first case of swine flu was reported in
Costa Rica. Alarmed that it could grow into a worldwide flu epidemic, the World Health Organization of the United Nations and the Center for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) in the United States raised its pandemic alert level to Phase 5, which signifies that a “pandemic is imminent.”
While experts believed that the recent outbreak is not as fatal as previous epidemics, such as the SARS virus, health officials believe that the number of cases could go up as the new flu is expected to make its way throughout the United States.

The new swine influenza strain is apparently a new variant of four strains of influenza A virus subtype H1N1. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the strain is endemic in humans and birds and a couple are endemic in pigs.

However, according to scientists the 2009 H1N1 outbreak is of swine origin which is associated with the virus isolated in North America in 1998. To hasten understanding of the current outbreak as well as in coming up with a vaccine, scientists from Canada have completed the full genetic sequencing of the H1N1 virus.

The new strain of H1N1 has become widespread in Mexico and the United States with confirmed cases in 18 countries and suspected cases in 42 others. Travelers have been warned not to travel to affected countries such as Iceland, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, to name a few.

In addition, warnings have also been issued warnings to visitors of countries affected by the outbreak. It is advisable for visitors to see the doctor right away if they experience flu-like symptoms.
In Mexico, schools, universities, and all public events were suspended from April 24 to May 6, 2009. In the United States, over 400 schools were closed as of May 3, 2009, which included schools in Texas and about 250,000 confirmed or probable cases.

Dr. Keiji Fukuda, who is the Assistant Director-General for Health Securiy and Environment of the World Health Organization confirmed that efforts to control the outbreak is already too late and should now focus on lessening the effects of the virus. He also clarified that closing borders or limiting travel to infected areas will do little in stopping the spread of the H1N1 virus.

On April 28, 2009, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that as much as possible, people should avoid non-important travel to Mexico.

According to Dr. Ira Longini, who is an expert in the mathematics and statistics of epidemics, staying at home, seeking medical care, closing public venues, and making anti-flu medicines accessible can help reduce the sickness by almost two-thirds.

Finally, according to Dr. Longini, the focus of efforts is to slow transmission until there is a vaccine that can be developed and made available for controlling swine flu outbreaks.

Swine Flu Vaccine Close To Reality According to Experts

Officials of the Federal government believe that the swine flu vaccine that would protect all Americans from future H1N1 outbreaks would be available by January or late November at the earliest.

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wever, countries outside the United States and other nations that manufacture vaccines would take several years to generate sufficient vaccines to meet global demands.

Although manufacturing of the vaccine is faster than it was a few years back, it may still not be enough to prevent death and illness if the dreaded virus begins to spread and becomes virulent, experts predict.

In the United States, the main obstacle despite long years of effort remains to be the 50-year old technology they use in manufacturing flu vaccines. The Federal government had invested time and billions of dollars shifting to a quicker and more reliable method.

One such procedure involves cultivating the vaccine viruses in vats of cells instead of hen’s eggs. There are several small companies that are developing new methods that would pave the way for the creation of large volumes of vaccines in a span of weeks.

Dr. Greg Poland, who is the head of the vaccine research program at the Mayo Clinic, admits that the cell-based cultivation technology is not yet available while the never technologies have not yet been proven to satisfy most experts.

In addition, government officials have also not yet decided on whether or not H1N1 is a potential risk that demands production of vaccine. However, they are implementing the initial steps. Andrin Oswald, Chief Executive of the Vaccine Division of Novartis, revealed that one possible problem would be the manufacture of vaccines for swine influenza could hamper the production of seasonal flu vaccines for the coming winter. The most likely thing to do is to compromise, according to Oswald.

However, Robin Robinson, who manages the Emergency Preparation Research Program of the Department of Health and Human Services, believes that majority of manufacturing efforts of vaccine makers would have been completed by June.

According to Dr. Robinson, if the manufacture of the H1N1 vaccine would commence after that, the first 50 million to 80 million would be ready by September.

Dr. Robinson continued by saying that the entire 600 million doses, which are sufficient to give the required two shots for every American would be available by January. Adding the immune stimulant adjuvant to the vaccine could greatly reduce the required dosage, paving the way for the availability of the doses by the latter part of November.

The vaccine industry in the country is now very much capable of responding to the outbreak than it was five years back, when there were only two vaccine manufacturers and encountered a severe shortage. At present, there are five manufacturers supplying vaccines to the domestic market. The vaccine industry, which is used to be the backwater of the pharmaceutical industry, is generating new investments, as a result of government subsidies and higher cost for vaccines.

Despite of this, a World Health Organization and International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations revealed that it would still require four more years of manufacturing to meet global demands for a vaccine that would provide protection against bird flu strain that has been the major concern of health officials over the last few years.

Finally, the Federal government is encouraging manufacturers to shift their production in the United States, since all except Sanofi Aventis is now importing swine flu vaccines.