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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- | |
| U.S. Asks Firms to Make Swine Flu Vaccine | |
| 2009-05-24 | |
| The federal government has asked three drug companies to make enough swine flu vaccine to immunize at least 20 million people in key positions in health care, national security and emergency services, officials said yesterday. The order, announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, is part of a $1 billion investment in immediate production and testing of vaccine against the newly emerged strain of the H1N1 flu virus. Further orders for potentially hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine are expected. "This is really to reserve our place in line," Sebelius said at a news conference at the agency's day-care center. Although questions remain unanswered about the effectiveness of a swine flu vaccine, how many doses it will take to protect a person and who should get it, Sebelius said that "we can't wait" for the answers before putting the manufacturing machinery in motion. The order is for bulk quantities of a killed version of the virus and two different adjuvants, chemical additives that boost the immune system's response and allow a lower dose of vaccine to be used, which in turn stretches the supply. The money will also pay for testing pilot lots of the vaccine in human volunteers. The vaccine ingredients would not be combined and "finished" into usable vaccine until late summer. Special permission from the Food and Drug Administration will be needed for the adjuvants to be used, as neither one is currently approved for use in this country. The government's pandemic preparedness plan divides the U.S. population into five tiers of priority for getting the vaccine. The first tier, of about 24 million people, includes deployed armed forces members; critical health-care workers; fire, police and ambulance workers; pregnant women and small children. HHS has contracts with five companies to make pandemic vaccine. The department has activated the ones with Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline. It is still negotiating with the two others, MedImmune and CSL, an Australian company.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #7 double cheeseburger hold the lettuce 3 times in one week! and a cholesterol test please! |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-05-24 21:52 |
| #6 Thanks for the info, 'moose. Rantburg U is in session again. What are the dosages for the other 3 drugs (besides Vit. D)? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-05-24 21:25 |
| #5 There is a good chance it may not work in any account, as in those instances of late spring flus, there were numerous accounts of the same people catching the later, severe flu. Critical tools to have in your arsenal. There is strong evidence that ordinary statin drugs, used against high cholesterol, such as Lipitor and Crestor, for as of yet unknown reasons strongly lowers the chances of developing high-mortality Acute Respiratory Distress associated with the Cytokine Storm. http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/URItheFlu/5411 So it is absolutely vital to get your hands on a supply of these pills if a severe influenza hits. Otherwise, a four drug OTC combination has been devised that might also fend off ARD. All four parts have to be taken for the effect, in that they each inhibit different, critical cytokine components (out of 150). Vitamin D 10,000 IU/day, which can be taken for a long period of time without toxicity, but should not be taken until there is risk of severe influenza. Vitamin D is a hormone that has both antiviral and inhibitory effects. Benedryl, a histamine-1 inhibitor. Tagamet, a histamine-2 inhibitor, normally used for acid reflux. Ibuprofen, a prostaglandin inhibitor, normally used as a pain reliever. ARD will be doubly lethal, because when you develop it, you must have an oxygen ventilator to breathe, and these are in critical supply in the US. Therefore it is essential you do not develop ARD. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-05-24 21:13 |
| #4 Trials are underway here in Houston for the H1N1 vaccine. |
| Posted by: Zorba 2009-05-24 18:53 |
| #3 Sorry. Didn't read that last line. MedImmune is a US company. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-05-24 13:37 |
| #2 No one of those companies is American. Scary. After developing most of the world's vaccines, including influenza, the US doesn't even control it's own vaccine production anymore. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-05-24 13:36 |
| #1 One sided conversation goes something like this - "Make the vaccine, or we'll seize your companies, we might just do it anyway. Don't even think of being allowed to recoup your costs or to be immunized from frivolous lawsuits. We'll be by to pick it up tomorrow..." |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2009-05-24 13:04 |