In This Article
Subscribe to Health UpdatesBird Flu Vaccine Wins Approval
April 18, 2007 05:15 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the first human vaccine for avian flu, but the effectiveness of the drug is only partial.
30 Second Summary
Manufactured by French pharmaceutical company Sanofi–Aventis, the new drug produces an immune response to the flu virus in about 45% of test subjects.
The FDA conclusion was that two injections, given 28 days apart, might provide “limited” protection in the event of a global epidemic, known as a pandemic.
To date, there have been 291 confirmed infections involving the avian flu virus H5N1. A total of 172 infected people died.
In its present form, the virus cannot jump from person to person, and finds it hard to make the leap from bird to human. However, researchers believe it could mutate, perhaps by combining with a human flu virus, to become more readily communicable. Some researchers believe that the resulting virus would be highly virulent and likely to spread across the globe quickly.
The U.S. government has already bought enough doses of the Sanofi vaccine to inoculate 6.5 million people. The drug will not be commercially available.
The FDA conclusion was that two injections, given 28 days apart, might provide “limited” protection in the event of a global epidemic, known as a pandemic.
To date, there have been 291 confirmed infections involving the avian flu virus H5N1. A total of 172 infected people died.
In its present form, the virus cannot jump from person to person, and finds it hard to make the leap from bird to human. However, researchers believe it could mutate, perhaps by combining with a human flu virus, to become more readily communicable. Some researchers believe that the resulting virus would be highly virulent and likely to spread across the globe quickly.
The U.S. government has already bought enough doses of the Sanofi vaccine to inoculate 6.5 million people. The drug will not be commercially available.
Headline
The FDA director of the office of Vaccines Research and Review described the Sanofi vaccine as “sort of an interim measure.” He also said that he would have preferred a vaccine that could be administered at a lower dosage.
Source: Reuters
“The threat of an influenza pandemic is, at present, one of the most significant public health issues our nation and world faces,” the commissioner of Food and Drugs said. “The approval of this vaccine is an important step forward in our protection against a pandemic.”
Source: The Food and Drug Administration
Background
At time of writing, the latest fatality detailed on the avian flu pages of the World Health Organization was in Egypt, where a 15-year-old boy died. He was the 14th infected person to die out of a total of 34 cases in Egypt.
Source: The World Health Organization
In March, 2007 Indonesia stated that it would not unconditionally share samples of the H5N1 virus collected within its borders. The country’s concern is that the samples will be used to produce vaccines that Indonesia cannot afford to buy for its own populace.
Source: Scientific American
Researchers identified a new strain of avian flu towards the end of last year, one that spread rapidly though poultry populations in Southeast Asia. Virologists fear that the appearance of this strain arose from over-reliance on a single bird flu vaccine, demonstrating how readily the virus can mutate.
Source: National Geographic
Need to Know
Normal cooking temperatures should kill the virus in poultry. Temperatures over 70 degrees Fahrenheit are sure to eradicate the virus. The Pandemic Network provides information and links on avian flu, among which is a list of ten essential facts about the disease.
Source: The Pandemic Network
In its present form the H5N1 virus can only be transmitted to humans directly from birds or from avian-contaminated environments or people; or through an intermediary host, such as a pig. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have an extensive section on avian flu on their Web site.
Source: The Centers for Disease Control
A truly effective vaccine cannot be developed until the virus mutates so it can jump easily between human beings. Consequently, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), non-medicinal strategies (also known as non-pharmaceutical interventions) may be the first line of defense in the event of a pandemic.
Source: The Centers for Disease Control
History
Haunting the avian flu debate are memories of the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918, which killed between 20 and 40 million people––more fatalities than resulted from World War One.
Source: Stanford University
Opinion
The most virulent human flu viruses derive from bird-borne diseases, says Reason Online. Nonetheless, though the WHO has said 2 to 7.4 million could die, we should keep in mind that 2 million died in the largely forgotten 1957 flu pandemic.
Source: Reason magazine
“Since 2003, at least 6 million people worldwide have died of diarrheal diseases, with about 1.5 million of those deaths attributed to rotavirus, which has spread in pandemic fashion. Yet the panic button has been pushed only for bird flu.” Slate writer Gregg Easterbrook asks why.
Source: Slate
Reference Material
The virus lacks a surface protein that would allow it to attach itself to the upper airway in humans. When this was discovered, most research reports responded with optimism. However, Grattan Woodson, MD points out that the virus has all the other attributes necessary to cause a pandemic. In his estimation, it is only “a hop, skip, and a jump away from efficient human-to-human transmission.”
Source: The Bird Flu Manual.com
The White House published the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan on November 1, 2005, concentrating on detection, stockpiling vaccines and antiviral drugs, and mitigation in the event of a pandemic. On the same day, the president requested $7.1 billion from Congress to implement the plan.
Source: The White House
How would a pandemic flu affect the United States? According to a recent survey by the Harvard School of Public Health, one in four people surveyed would not have anyone to care for them.
Source: The Harvard School of Public Health
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