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Australia Flu Vaccines May Be Delayed By H1N1 Orders (Update1)
Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Vaccines against seasonal influenza may arrive about three weeks later than usual in Australia as orders for swine flu shots reduce production capacity, according to CSL Ltd., the only manufacturer in the Southern Hemisphere.
CSL is making inoculations against seasonal strains and swine flu, the H1N1 virus responsible for the first influenza pandemic in 41 years and most flu cases occurring worldwide. Seasonal flu vaccine will probably be available in Australia in April, said Rachel David, a CSL spokeswoman in Melbourne. The shots are usually ready in March, she said over the phone today.
?April is probably not too much of an issue ordinarily, but it might be different in a pandemic,? said Ian Barr, deputy director of the World Health Organization?s Collaborating Center for Influenza in Melbourne. ?Last winter, we had quite a bit of disease around May-June. Who knows with next year??
The new H1N1 puts pregnant women, young people and those with chronic health conditions such as asthma and diabetes at greater risk, with about 90 percent of deaths occurring among those younger than 64, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By contrast, the majority of deaths from seasonal flu are among people older than 80.
Melbourne-based CSL is contracted by the Australian government to supply about two-thirds of the local market for seasonal flu vaccine and is also filling a government order for 21 million doses of vaccine against swine flu. The pandemic strain will be included in next year?s seasonal flu shot, which aims to protect against the three viruses researchers expect will circulate most widely next winter.
Priority Groups
David said she didn?t yet know the quantity of seasonal flu vaccine likely to be available in Australia next year. Priority should be given to the elderly and other groups more susceptible to developing complications from the viral disease, she said.
Vaccination against flu usually takes two to three weeks to achieve maximum protection.
WHO recommended in September that vaccines for the 2010 Southern Hemisphere winter include a new H3N2 strain isolated earlier this year in the Australian city of Perth. Current seasonal flu shots don?t fully protect against that new variant.
Flu researchers from WHO?s collaborating centers in Atlanta, London, Tokyo, Melbourne and Memphis, Tennessee, are scheduled to meet in mid-February to discuss the composition of vaccines for the 2010-2011 Northern Hemisphere winter flu season.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Gale in Singapore at j.gale@bloomberg.net
Australia Flu Vaccines May Be Delayed By H1N1 Orders (Update1)
Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Vaccines against seasonal influenza may arrive about three weeks later than usual in Australia as orders for swine flu shots reduce production capacity, according to CSL Ltd., the only manufacturer in the Southern Hemisphere.
CSL is making inoculations against seasonal strains and swine flu, the H1N1 virus responsible for the first influenza pandemic in 41 years and most flu cases occurring worldwide. Seasonal flu vaccine will probably be available in Australia in April, said Rachel David, a CSL spokeswoman in Melbourne. The shots are usually ready in March, she said over the phone today.
?April is probably not too much of an issue ordinarily, but it might be different in a pandemic,? said Ian Barr, deputy director of the World Health Organization?s Collaborating Center for Influenza in Melbourne. ?Last winter, we had quite a bit of disease around May-June. Who knows with next year??
The new H1N1 puts pregnant women, young people and those with chronic health conditions such as asthma and diabetes at greater risk, with about 90 percent of deaths occurring among those younger than 64, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By contrast, the majority of deaths from seasonal flu are among people older than 80.
Melbourne-based CSL is contracted by the Australian government to supply about two-thirds of the local market for seasonal flu vaccine and is also filling a government order for 21 million doses of vaccine against swine flu. The pandemic strain will be included in next year?s seasonal flu shot, which aims to protect against the three viruses researchers expect will circulate most widely next winter.
Priority Groups
David said she didn?t yet know the quantity of seasonal flu vaccine likely to be available in Australia next year. Priority should be given to the elderly and other groups more susceptible to developing complications from the viral disease, she said.
Vaccination against flu usually takes two to three weeks to achieve maximum protection.
WHO recommended in September that vaccines for the 2010 Southern Hemisphere winter include a new H3N2 strain isolated earlier this year in the Australian city of Perth. Current seasonal flu shots don?t fully protect against that new variant.
Flu researchers from WHO?s collaborating centers in Atlanta, London, Tokyo, Melbourne and Memphis, Tennessee, are scheduled to meet in mid-February to discuss the composition of vaccines for the 2010-2011 Northern Hemisphere winter flu season.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Gale in Singapore at j.gale@bloomberg.net