The fed'l gov't originally promised 120 mil doses of swine flu vaccine by now, but only 13 mil have come through. Production is running several weeks behind schedule, and health officials blame the pressure on drug makers to crank it out along with the ordinary flu vaccine, and a slow and antiquated process. Clinics that managed to obtain doses of the vaccine have been swamped, and doctors are getting bombarded with calls from worried parents.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Spreading Swine Flu
By Rob Stein |
The Washington Post
People may be able to spread swine flu even after their symptoms have subsided, according to new research.
A study of Air Force cadets who came down with the flu this summer found that a significant proportion of them were still "shedding" virus more than 24 hours after their fever and other symptoms had disappeared.
Public health authorities have been asking people to stay home from work and school for at least a day after their temperatures return to normal, in an effort to limit the spread of the virus. But the new findings, reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, raise questions about that advice.
The new study involved some of the 1,300 basic cadet trainees who arrived at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., on June 25 for a six-week military training program. By July 6, some of the cadets began to experience flu-like symptoms, and two tested positive for the illness. The virus apparently spread during a social mixer; cases peaked 48 hours after the event and dropped off quickly afterwards.
Read More Sunday, October 4, 2009
Swine Flu Vaccination Effort Starts Monday: CDC
Sun Oct 4, 2009 11:03pm EDT
REUTERS.com
Vaccination clinics are scheduled for Monday morning for staff at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee and Wishard Health Services in Indianapolis, the CDC said.
The CDC said it is not especially deadly, but it is affecting younger people than seasonal flu usually does and at a time of year when there is generally little or no influenza.
REUTERS.com
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Healthcare workers in Indiana and Tennessee will be among the first to get swine flu vaccines in the United States on Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Vaccination clinics are scheduled for Monday morning for staff at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee and Wishard Health Services in Indianapolis, the CDC said.
The U.S. government has ordered about 250 million doses from five companies -- Sanofi-Aventis SA, CSL Ltd MedImmune, Novartis AG and GlaxoSmithKline. MedImmune had especially good production of the H1N1 vaccine and has been the first to make doses available.
The vaccines will trickle in at a rate of about 20 million doses a week, and officials are unsure how many Americans will actually get them. The U.S. government is providing them for free, but clinics and retailers may charge to administer them.
The picture is further complicated by seasonal flu vaccination, which started last month.
Pandemic H1N1 has been circulating since it was first identified in two U.S. children last March but it has picked up speed since schools returned from their summer break in August.
Dozens of children and at least 28 pregnant women in the United States have died from the virus and at least 100 pregnant women were sick enough with it to be hospitalized, the CDC said.
Pregnant women, healthcare workers and people with special health conditions including heart disease and diabetes are supposed to be the first to get the vaccine
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)