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WHO declares first 21st century flu pandemic
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-12 10:36 VACCINE DEVELOPMENT UNDERWAY Chan said WHO would start distributing a further donation of 5.65 million courses of Tamiflu from Roche. WHO recommended drugmakers stay on track to complete production of seasonal influenza vaccine for the Northern Hemisphere's next winter. Each year, normal flu kills up to 500,000 people and infects millions. Work on developing an H1N1 vaccine is already under way at leading companies, whose factories will be ready to switch to making a pandemic shot in around two weeks' time, when normal season flu vaccine production is complete. Seasonal flu affects mainly the elderly and causes severe illness in millions, so a premature switch in vaccine production to cope with the new strain could put many people at risk. "So our recommendation is they need to finish the seasonal vaccine and then move over," Chan said. Chan said the Geneva-based agency would work with regulatory authorities to help fast-track approval of new pandemic vaccines that are safe and effective so that they can be made available as soon as possible. In any case, the first doses would only be available in September, she added. A pandemic could cause enormous disruption to business as workers stay home because they are sick or to look after family members and authorities restrict gatherings of large numbers of people or movement of people or goods. World markets shrugged off the pandemic, as investors focused on possible global economic recovery. The strain has spread widely, with 28,774 infections confirmed in 74 countries to date, including 144 deaths, according to WHO's latest tally of laboratory-confirmed cases. The United States has said tests only turn up a fraction of the true number of cases. |
