Commonground
Senior Moderator
A timeline of excerpts from articles I found very interesting regarding the Brisbane Strain.
07 February 2008
Profile: Vaccine trailblazer
Hepeng Jia/Beijing, China
When Yin Weidong, general manager of the vaccine developer Sinovac Biotech, established his company to develop a hepatitis A vaccine in 1992, he hadn't even heard the term 'biotech'.
Now, 15 years on, Yin is one of the leading lights of China's fast growing biotech industry and Sinovac the first Chinese biotech firm listed on the US stock exchange.
With no sign of another epidemic, the company has recently decided to suspend its SARS vaccine programme despite successful results from its phase I trial. The phase III trial of its H5N1 vaccine is also on hold.
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2008/February/08020802.asp
15 February 2008
WHO names three new strains for 2008 flu vaccine
Replacing all three strains in the flu shot is rare and could complicate the process of making next winter's vaccine, experts agree.
"The manufacturers will have a challenge ahead of them. We all will," said Dr. Nancy Cox,...
Cox said changing all three strains is "not unprecedented" but doesn't happen often.
"This year our data were just very consistent in pointing to the need to update H1, H3 and B," she said, referring to the three components in the vaccine.
"We're looking for new variants, the spread of those variants...
The recommended strains for next winter's vaccine are named A/Brisbane/59/2007, which is the H1N1 virus; A/Brisbane/10/2007, which is the H3N2 virus; and B/Florida/4/2006.
The last two are in the vaccine which is being prepared now for the southern hemisphere's upcoming flu season, so the vaccine manufacturers have some experience working with two of the three. But one of those two - the H3N2 virus - grew poorly and produced a low yield.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080215/flu_vaccine_080215/20080215?hub=Health
21 February 2008
Officials hope 2009 flu vaccine protects better
"It's going to be a really busy spring and summer, and of course we're always looking for fallback positions just in case things don't work out well," said Dr. Nancy Cox,....
One concern: A strain called Brisbane/10 that's responsible for much of this winter's misery doesn't grow very quickly in the laboratory, potentially complicating already laborious vaccine production
CDC and international authorities expect Brisbane/10, a version of the H3N2 flu, to still be around next year. They predict a second new Type A strain, known as H1N1/Brisbane/59, also will hit, along with a newer Type B/Florida strain, prompting Thursday's decision to put all three in next year's vaccine.
The recipe must be set about eight months before manufacturers start shipping doses because flu vaccine production is so complex. Health authorities come up with seed stocks of the virus strains that manufacturers then must grow in chicken eggs.
Makers of vaccine for the Southern Hemisphere already have added the troublesome Brisbane/10 strain to their own shots, and found it doesn't grow easily. Scientists now are working on a solution to that technical problem, such as using a very similar virus -- it's even called "Brisbane/10-like" -- found in Uruguay that would provide the same protection, Cox said.
"We're working with three new strains. ... There's some unknowns related to those and how they're going to grow."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/21/next.flu.vaccine.ap/index.html
06 March 2008
Hong Kong
Vigilance against seasonal influenza urged
Speaking at a media briefing today (March 6), the Controller of CHP, Dr Thomas Tsang, said that CHP's surveillance systems indicated an increased influenza activity in recent weeks indicating Hong Kong was now in the traditional winter influenza season.
This year, circulating influenza viruses showed a mixed composition, with A/H3N2/Brisbane, A/H1N1/Solomon Islands, A/H1N1/Brisbane and B/Yamagata and B/Malaysia.
http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200803/06/P200803060180.htm
17 March 2008
Flu jabs planned for Hong Kong kids
GUANGZHOU - Hong Kong is planning free flu vaccinations for 1 million children aged 12 and under to prevent further spread of the epidemic.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-03/17/content_6540372.htm
18 March 2008
Scott McPherson’s Blog
Facts are stubborn things.
And timelines here are important. First, Teenage girl develops coinfection with H5N1 and H3N2 in April, 2007. Next, Aussies travel to Bali in droves, as Bali is to Australians what Disney World is to people from Illinois. Next, Australia types a new and more virulent substrain of H3N2, called Brisbane, in Summer, 2007. Then, that same substrain moves to North America and Europe in 2007 and 2008.
Look at the quote from Emmy's article:
A virologist and microbiologist at Udayana University in Denpasar (Bali), I Gusti Ngurah Mahardhika, said the co-infection involving the girl most likely was not the first such case in Indonesia because researchers used to focus only on H5N1 and did not check for the presence of other H viruses. (bold mine)
"Global fear of a new virus from such a co-infection is well grounded, I think. The product of a reassortment between H5N1 and H3N2 can be still in the form of H5N1 but with traits of H3N2. The new H5N1 is virulent and has the capacity to transmit from human to human like H3N2, our seasonal flu virus," he said.
Only after looking at the genetic makeup of A/H3N2 Brisbane will we know if it acquired any Indonesian H5N1 human polymorphisms. But in light of this latest peer-reviewed, scientific paper, and considering where and when H3N2 Brisbane came from -- I think it is worth a serious look. Don't you?
Because facts are stubborn things, indeed.
http://www.scottmcpherson.net/display/ShowJournal?moduleId=1366394&categoryId=116462¤tPage=4
22 March 2008
Australia
Deadly flu warning
PARENTS should vaccinate their children against influenza to prepare for a potentially deadly flu season this year, the World Health Organisation has warned. [snip]
In 2007, Queensland had the highest rate of laboratory-confirmed influenza in the country with 4268 cases, followed by New South Wales with 1640 cases, and Victoria with 1497. There were only 1213 cases recorded for the entire country in 2006.
It is understood another antiviral medication, Relenza, made by GlaxoSmithKline, may still work against the H1 mutated strain.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23416091-953,00.html[/quote]
07 April 2008
Australia
Free flu jabs for all toddlers [not a typo, see March 17th above]
“Influenza strains are becoming stronger and more unpredictable and the very young, the elderly and those with chronic disease are all vulnerable to severe illness from the virus,”...
In 2007 there were four times the number of confirmed cases as were reported the previous year.
A $700,000 Department of Health advertising campaign to warn people of the dangers and advise them on how to avoid getting and transmitting the virus will begin tomorrow.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23497278-948,00.html
10 April 2008
Australia
Flu jab patients turned away due to shortage
The WA Health Department blamed the temporary shortage of the vaccine on changes to the influenza virus which had made the manufacture of this year’s vaccine more time-consuming.
“Because of changes to the influenza virus circulating in Australia last winter and in the northern winter, the influenza vaccine this year has three totally new vaccine components,”
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuId=77&ContentID=67327
07 February 2008
Profile: Vaccine trailblazer
Hepeng Jia/Beijing, China
When Yin Weidong, general manager of the vaccine developer Sinovac Biotech, established his company to develop a hepatitis A vaccine in 1992, he hadn't even heard the term 'biotech'.
Now, 15 years on, Yin is one of the leading lights of China's fast growing biotech industry and Sinovac the first Chinese biotech firm listed on the US stock exchange.
With no sign of another epidemic, the company has recently decided to suspend its SARS vaccine programme despite successful results from its phase I trial. The phase III trial of its H5N1 vaccine is also on hold.
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2008/February/08020802.asp
15 February 2008
WHO names three new strains for 2008 flu vaccine
Replacing all three strains in the flu shot is rare and could complicate the process of making next winter's vaccine, experts agree.
"The manufacturers will have a challenge ahead of them. We all will," said Dr. Nancy Cox,...
Cox said changing all three strains is "not unprecedented" but doesn't happen often.
"This year our data were just very consistent in pointing to the need to update H1, H3 and B," she said, referring to the three components in the vaccine.
"We're looking for new variants, the spread of those variants...
The recommended strains for next winter's vaccine are named A/Brisbane/59/2007, which is the H1N1 virus; A/Brisbane/10/2007, which is the H3N2 virus; and B/Florida/4/2006.
The last two are in the vaccine which is being prepared now for the southern hemisphere's upcoming flu season, so the vaccine manufacturers have some experience working with two of the three. But one of those two - the H3N2 virus - grew poorly and produced a low yield.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080215/flu_vaccine_080215/20080215?hub=Health
21 February 2008
Officials hope 2009 flu vaccine protects better
"It's going to be a really busy spring and summer, and of course we're always looking for fallback positions just in case things don't work out well," said Dr. Nancy Cox,....
One concern: A strain called Brisbane/10 that's responsible for much of this winter's misery doesn't grow very quickly in the laboratory, potentially complicating already laborious vaccine production
CDC and international authorities expect Brisbane/10, a version of the H3N2 flu, to still be around next year. They predict a second new Type A strain, known as H1N1/Brisbane/59, also will hit, along with a newer Type B/Florida strain, prompting Thursday's decision to put all three in next year's vaccine.
The recipe must be set about eight months before manufacturers start shipping doses because flu vaccine production is so complex. Health authorities come up with seed stocks of the virus strains that manufacturers then must grow in chicken eggs.
Makers of vaccine for the Southern Hemisphere already have added the troublesome Brisbane/10 strain to their own shots, and found it doesn't grow easily. Scientists now are working on a solution to that technical problem, such as using a very similar virus -- it's even called "Brisbane/10-like" -- found in Uruguay that would provide the same protection, Cox said.
"We're working with three new strains. ... There's some unknowns related to those and how they're going to grow."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/21/next.flu.vaccine.ap/index.html
06 March 2008
Hong Kong
Vigilance against seasonal influenza urged
Speaking at a media briefing today (March 6), the Controller of CHP, Dr Thomas Tsang, said that CHP's surveillance systems indicated an increased influenza activity in recent weeks indicating Hong Kong was now in the traditional winter influenza season.
This year, circulating influenza viruses showed a mixed composition, with A/H3N2/Brisbane, A/H1N1/Solomon Islands, A/H1N1/Brisbane and B/Yamagata and B/Malaysia.
http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200803/06/P200803060180.htm
17 March 2008
Flu jabs planned for Hong Kong kids
GUANGZHOU - Hong Kong is planning free flu vaccinations for 1 million children aged 12 and under to prevent further spread of the epidemic.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-03/17/content_6540372.htm
18 March 2008
Scott McPherson’s Blog
Facts are stubborn things.
And timelines here are important. First, Teenage girl develops coinfection with H5N1 and H3N2 in April, 2007. Next, Aussies travel to Bali in droves, as Bali is to Australians what Disney World is to people from Illinois. Next, Australia types a new and more virulent substrain of H3N2, called Brisbane, in Summer, 2007. Then, that same substrain moves to North America and Europe in 2007 and 2008.
Look at the quote from Emmy's article:
A virologist and microbiologist at Udayana University in Denpasar (Bali), I Gusti Ngurah Mahardhika, said the co-infection involving the girl most likely was not the first such case in Indonesia because researchers used to focus only on H5N1 and did not check for the presence of other H viruses. (bold mine)
"Global fear of a new virus from such a co-infection is well grounded, I think. The product of a reassortment between H5N1 and H3N2 can be still in the form of H5N1 but with traits of H3N2. The new H5N1 is virulent and has the capacity to transmit from human to human like H3N2, our seasonal flu virus," he said.
Only after looking at the genetic makeup of A/H3N2 Brisbane will we know if it acquired any Indonesian H5N1 human polymorphisms. But in light of this latest peer-reviewed, scientific paper, and considering where and when H3N2 Brisbane came from -- I think it is worth a serious look. Don't you?
Because facts are stubborn things, indeed.
http://www.scottmcpherson.net/display/ShowJournal?moduleId=1366394&categoryId=116462¤tPage=4
22 March 2008
Australia
Deadly flu warning
PARENTS should vaccinate their children against influenza to prepare for a potentially deadly flu season this year, the World Health Organisation has warned. [snip]
In 2007, Queensland had the highest rate of laboratory-confirmed influenza in the country with 4268 cases, followed by New South Wales with 1640 cases, and Victoria with 1497. There were only 1213 cases recorded for the entire country in 2006.
It is understood another antiviral medication, Relenza, made by GlaxoSmithKline, may still work against the H1 mutated strain.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23416091-953,00.html[/quote]
07 April 2008
Australia
Free flu jabs for all toddlers [not a typo, see March 17th above]
“Influenza strains are becoming stronger and more unpredictable and the very young, the elderly and those with chronic disease are all vulnerable to severe illness from the virus,”...
In 2007 there were four times the number of confirmed cases as were reported the previous year.
A $700,000 Department of Health advertising campaign to warn people of the dangers and advise them on how to avoid getting and transmitting the virus will begin tomorrow.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23497278-948,00.html
10 April 2008
Australia
Flu jab patients turned away due to shortage
The WA Health Department blamed the temporary shortage of the vaccine on changes to the influenza virus which had made the manufacture of this year’s vaccine more time-consuming.
“Because of changes to the influenza virus circulating in Australia last winter and in the northern winter, the influenza vaccine this year has three totally new vaccine components,”
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuId=77&ContentID=67327
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