casper
11-21-2009, 06:28 PM
Did U.S. make mistake in skipping vaccine additive?
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON- As U.S. health officials struggle to vaccinate tens of millions of Americans against the pandemic of swine flu, some are looking regretfully at one easy way to instantly double or triple the number of doses available -- by using an immune booster called an adjuvant.
These additives, often as simple as an oil and water mixture, broaden the body's response to a vaccine, reducing the amount of active ingredient called antigen needed.
They are widely used in European flu vaccines as well as in Canada. But not in the United States -- even though the federal government has spent nearly $700 million buying them.
The reason -- people might not trust them.
"If we really do want pregnant women to trust this vaccine or even parents, we have to think about what is acceptable to them," Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an interview.
"We have so much vaccine hesitancy in this country," agreed Jeff Levi of the non-profit Trust For America's Health. "To add ... a new element could well have undermined the efficacy of this campaign," Levi told a hearing this week before a Congressional subcommittee.
This frustrates the World Health Organization, which says the global capacity to make influenza vaccines is about 3 billion doses a year -- not enough to cover the population of 6.8 billion people. WHO has hoped rich countries would donate leftover H1N1 vaccine to others.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department was ready to try adjuvants had the pandemic been worse. H1N1 swine flu has infected an estimated 22 million Americans and killed 3,900, but it so far does not appear to be any deadlier than seasonal influenza.
The worry is that it is affecting younger adults and children instead of the elderly usually targeted by flu, and has the potential to mutate into something more deadly.
"If things had been worse and this would have been a more severe pandemic, we may well have needed to go that way anyway," Levi said.
TRIED AND TRUE
Instead, the United States has stuck with what CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden has repeatedly called the "tried and true" approach -- the same formulation used in seasonal flu vaccines. Five companies have contracts -- Sanofi-Aventis, CSL, Novartis, AstraZeneca unit MedImmune and GlaxoSmithKline.
Polls show that only about half of Americans plan to be vaccinated against H1N1. Of those who do not, about half say they worry about safety.
Even so, long lines have formed as people try to get the 50 million or so swine flu doses that have rolled out of factories. Drug companies have struggled with an unpredictable virus that does not grow well in eggs, as well as changes to U.S. orders that slowed down packaging.
Studies suggest the supply that is out now could have been tripled.
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON- As U.S. health officials struggle to vaccinate tens of millions of Americans against the pandemic of swine flu, some are looking regretfully at one easy way to instantly double or triple the number of doses available -- by using an immune booster called an adjuvant.
These additives, often as simple as an oil and water mixture, broaden the body's response to a vaccine, reducing the amount of active ingredient called antigen needed.
They are widely used in European flu vaccines as well as in Canada. But not in the United States -- even though the federal government has spent nearly $700 million buying them.
The reason -- people might not trust them.
"If we really do want pregnant women to trust this vaccine or even parents, we have to think about what is acceptable to them," Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an interview.
"We have so much vaccine hesitancy in this country," agreed Jeff Levi of the non-profit Trust For America's Health. "To add ... a new element could well have undermined the efficacy of this campaign," Levi told a hearing this week before a Congressional subcommittee.
This frustrates the World Health Organization, which says the global capacity to make influenza vaccines is about 3 billion doses a year -- not enough to cover the population of 6.8 billion people. WHO has hoped rich countries would donate leftover H1N1 vaccine to others.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department was ready to try adjuvants had the pandemic been worse. H1N1 swine flu has infected an estimated 22 million Americans and killed 3,900, but it so far does not appear to be any deadlier than seasonal influenza.
The worry is that it is affecting younger adults and children instead of the elderly usually targeted by flu, and has the potential to mutate into something more deadly.
"If things had been worse and this would have been a more severe pandemic, we may well have needed to go that way anyway," Levi said.
TRIED AND TRUE
Instead, the United States has stuck with what CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden has repeatedly called the "tried and true" approach -- the same formulation used in seasonal flu vaccines. Five companies have contracts -- Sanofi-Aventis, CSL, Novartis, AstraZeneca unit MedImmune and GlaxoSmithKline.
Polls show that only about half of Americans plan to be vaccinated against H1N1. Of those who do not, about half say they worry about safety.
Even so, long lines have formed as people try to get the 50 million or so swine flu doses that have rolled out of factories. Drug companies have struggled with an unpredictable virus that does not grow well in eggs, as well as changes to U.S. orders that slowed down packaging.
Studies suggest the supply that is out now could have been tripled.