3m doses of untested vaccine will not arrive in UK until May

[Guest guest]

By the time this " virus " *mutates* to human form, everyone will be so

stressed their immune systems will be knackered and they'll drop like

ninepins. People will die from a pandemic of fear, not bird flu.

Sue

http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,,1748866,00.html

3m doses of untested vaccine will not arrive in UK until May

Laville

Friday April 7, 2006

The Guardian

More than 3m doses of an as yet untested vaccine are on their way to the UK

while research continues into a drug that could protect humans against an

avian flu pandemic.

The doses of the H5N1 vaccine, which has been put through some clinical

trials, are due to arrive anytime after May 1 and could be used for staff

within the NHS. But the Department of Health has said the vaccine is just a

first line of defence while drug companies rush to find an exact vaccine to

match a pandemic flu strain.

Alan Hay, the director of the Medical Research Council's world influenza

centre, said: " Even if it is not as effective as a normal flu vaccine it is

likely to have some beneficial effects so the government has ordered what is

currently available. I think it is a very important step.

" At the present time all that has been manufactured is small amounts of

vaccine predominantly for conducting clinical trials so that there is a

small stockpile. But there has been no decision taken to mass produce a

vaccine and that won't be done until there's evidence that this virus has

changed and started to establish itself in the human population and to

spread. "

The H5N1 strain of avian flu has killed more than 100 people, mostly in

Asia, since 2003. But as yet it has not mutated to be able to transfer

between humans. The government has also ordered 14.6m courses of Tamiflu, an

antiviral drug that can be used to treat symptoms of the human version of

avian flu. But amid warnings from the Department of Health that the number

of deaths from a pandemic of bird flu could reach more than 50,000 in the

UK, recent reports have cast doubt on the effectiveness of Tamilflu as a

treatment.

A report in the Lancet medical journal said there was no evidence that

Tamiflu would work if a flu pandemic took off in humans. The paper,

published three months ago, said none of the four existing drugs against

influenza - Tamiflu, Relenza, amantadine and rimantadine, would have much

effect.

The report warned against relying on drugs to stamp out a potential avian

flu pandemic, saying complacency could get in the way of more useful public

health measures, such as hygiene and isolation, to stop the spread of

infection.

While the drugs might reduce patients' symptoms, the report said the use of

Tamiflu could actually increase the spread of the flu virus. If people take

the drug and have fewer symptoms they may end up going to work and spreading

the potentially lethal virus.