U.S First Bird Flu Vaccine Approved By FDA

Written by OJ Fagbire

Wednesday, 18 April 2007

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The United States’ first human vaccine for bird flu was approved on Tuesday by The Food and Drug Administration.

The director of FDA’s office of vaccines research and review in Rockville, Md said that it was “an interim measure."

With the findings made by the FDA in clinical trials, the vaccine for the H5N1 strain of bird flu triggered an immune response in about 45% of people, but on the contrary vaccines for a seasonal flu protect 70% to 90% of those who get a shot.

It was observed that the vaccines created by Sanofi Pasteur of Swiftwater, Pa., has limitations but in spite of the limitations, it still offered a good start in combating a potential bird flu pandemic, according to epidemiologists. The vaccine was synthesized based on a virus in Vietnam.

According to the World Health Organization,t more death cases took place in Asia and about 172 humans and millions of birds have been killed by the H5N1 strain since 2003.

The federal government has begun to build its stockpile without the endorsement of the FDA and as a result the vaccine would not be available commercially. About 6.5 million doses of the vaccines are in the custody of the government for public distribution.

The director of the centre for infectious disease research and policy at the university of Minnesota Michael T. Osterholm praised the FDA approval but wasn’t sure if the vaccine would be mass- produced enough to meet the demands.

"The reality is, this vaccine will have only a very limited impact on any potential pandemic caused by H5N1," these were the words of Osterholm and that emphasizes the fact that the yearly production would not exceed a little percentage of the American citizen, let alone the entire world.

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