Indonesia says plans to use human bird flu vaccine

[Sally Furniss]

Indonesia says plans to use human bird flu vaccine


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070622/sc_nm/birdflu_indonesia_dc

AKARTA (Reuters) - A vaccine to combat human bird flu could be ready as early as July, Indonesia said on Friday, adding it was prepared to use it immediately despite calls from the WHO to build up a stockpile first. Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said the World Health Organization's advice was not realistic in the case of Indonesia, which has the highest number of bird flu deaths.

"WHO urged us to stockpile first. That may work for developed countries, where human cases are yet to appear. But we already have human cases, we are in the middle of a war and we should not be stockpiling anymore," she said.

WHO officials declined immediately to comment.

The minister said clinical trials should wrap up soon and the vaccine, which is being jointly developed with a unit of U.S. firm Baxter International Inc., should be ready for use as soon as July.

The Indonesian government and Baxter agreed in February to develop a vaccine. Under the agreement, Indonesia has been supplying virus specimens, while Baxter is providing the technology to develop the vaccine.

"If a cluster like Karo appears, where human-to-human transmission is not immediately clear, Indonesia has the right to go ahead with vaccinations to prevent the spread of the virus," Supari said, referring to an outbreak in Sumatra last year.

The largest known cluster of human bird flu cases worldwide occurred in May 2006 in the Karo district of North Sumatra province, where as many as seven people in an extended family died. The cluster triggered fears the virus had mutated into a form that could spread easily between people.

While bird flu is mainly an animal disease, experts fear it could mutate into a form that can be spread easily among people, triggering a possible pandemic which could kill millions. The disease has globally killed 191 since 2003.

There have been 100 confirmed human cases and 80 deaths in Indonesia, which has complained that developing nations would not be able to afford vaccines being developed against the disease.

In April, WHO announced plans to build a global stockpile of up to 60 million vaccine doses to be used by developing nations to counter any bird flu pandemic.

Early treatment with anti-viral drug Tamiflu, developed by Swiss firm Roche, is the most effective way to treat bird flu patients, experts say.

Supari also disputed research suggesting the Indonesian strain was less susceptible to being treated by Tamiflu.

An Australian expert released research indicating the Indonesian strain of H5N1 was 20 to 30 times less sensitive to Tamiflu, pointing to a higher level of resistance to the drug, according to media reports.

"The Indonesian virus strain is sensitive to Tamiflu," the minister said.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Indonesia says plans to use human bird flu vaccine

Indonesia mulls bird flu vaccination in human

www.chinaview.cn 2007-06-22



JAKARTA, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government said Friday bird flu vaccine for human will be ready in July and mass vaccination was likely when a cluster case occurs.

"Immunization is possible for cluster cases like Garut and Karo but the decision should be based on recommendation by experts," Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari told reporters here.

She was referring to the bird flu outbreak in Karo, North Sumatra in which six people from an extended family died of bird flu in May 2006, and another cluster case in Garut, West Java, that affected 18 people of the same neighborhood and killed three of them in August 2006.

"In such cases as Garut and Karo, people around the victims must get the vaccine, people within the radius of at least one km," she said.

The Indonesian government is currently developing bird flu vaccine for human in collaboration with U.S. firm Baxter International Inc.

"The clinical tests (of the vaccine) reportedly have been completed," she said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/22/content_6278821.htm

 

[HenryN]

Re: Indonesia says plans to use human bird flu vaccine

The time to use the pandemic vaccine is now.

Stockpiling is the height of folly.

 

[deadandalive]

Re: Indonesia says plans to use human bird flu vaccine

The time to use the pandemic vaccine is now.

Stockpiling is the height of folly.

Has this topic been covered, would like to know other peoples thoughts if any,thanks:tiphat:

 

[deadandalive]

Re: Indonesia says plans to use human bird flu vaccine

The time to use the pandemic vaccine is now.

Stockpiling is the height of folly.

my thoughts on this are that prevention is better than a cure ,once a cluster is realized it would be too late to organize people and vacine in that area to stop a pandemic strain exploding in the population.gathering people to vacination pionts at the onset of a pandemic would give it a better chance to spread and give people a false sence of security.my understanding of a vacine is it takes time to impart imunity sometimes weeks please correct me if im wrong.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Indonesia says plans to use human bird flu vaccine

Being no expert, I tend to agree with you Deadanalive: no immediate protection through vaccination.

My guess would be authorities would combine vaccination with an isolation of a hamlet - village - 1 kmzone; and vaccinate in this zone.

 

[deadandalive]

Re: Indonesia says plans to use human bird flu vaccine

Being no expert, I tend to agree with you Deadanalive: no immediate protection through vaccination.

My guess would be authorities would combine vaccination with an isolation of a hamlet - village - 1 kmzone; and vaccinate in this zone.

hope what you say will happen,and it does not happen in a densly populated area like a city .thanks for that Dutchy and all your hard work:applause:

 

[HenryN]

Re: Indonesia says plans to use human bird flu vaccine

Vaccines are for prevention, not treatment. All current pandemic vaccines require at least two injections (and even then they are VERY iffy, even after two shots).

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Indonesia says plans to use human bird flu vaccine

Human H5N1 vaccine, kits to be ready next month

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Early-detection kits and human vaccines for avian influenza should be ready for distribution throughout Indonesia by July, the government has announced.

"The production of the (human) vaccine will be completed this week, which means we expect it to be available here in July," Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said Friday.

In February, the government signed a memorandum of understanding with Switzerland-based Baxter Healthcare SA, a subsidiary of U.S. pharmaceutical company Baxter International, to develop a human bird flu vaccine for the Indonesian strain of the virus.

Under the agreement, the government was to provide clinical specimens of the H5N1 strains spreading throughout Indonesia, while Baxter was to provide the technical expertise required to create the vaccine.

The scientific know-how is to be transferred to state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma, which will conduct downstream production once the vaccine is ready.

Siti acknowledged that the World Health Organization (WHO) remains opposed to the vaccination of humans against bird flu.

"(WHO should) give Indonesia the autonomy to decide whether to vaccinate humans when necessary," she said on the sidelines of a ceremony to receive an X-Ray machine and four patient monitoring devices produced by General Electric Healthcare.

"We have not decided (anything) though, but if a pandemic really does occur, the first to be vaccinated will be medical officers and the people around them," Siti said, adding that vaccinations would ideally be conducted within a one-kilometer radius of a confirmed case.

She also said vaccinations could be conducted in the case of uncertainty over whether a particular case was the result of a human-to-human or animal-to-human transmission.

"Vaccine stockpiling is for those countries that are yet to be infected, but for a country such ours, we are already in the middle of a war zone (against bird flu)," Siti said.

As for the early detection devices, Siti said: "The production of the early detection kits is (also) complete, but they are not yet in Jakarta."

In October last year, the Health Ministry and Singapore's Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory Ltd. initiated a joint effort to develop the kits to speed the diagnosis of human H5N1 cases.

Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory is subsidiary of the Singaporean government's investment arm, Temasek Holdings.

Health Ministry spokesperson Lily Sulistyowati confirmed that both the kits and the human vaccines would be available "around the same time in July".

The country's human death toll from bird flu currently stands at 80, the highest in the world, with 100 people having tested positive in 11 provinces -- West Java, Jakarta, Banten, North Sumatra, East Java, Central Java, Lampung, South Sulawesi, West Sumatra, South Sumatra and Riau.

The Health Ministry aims to increase the number of bird flu referral hospitals from 44 to 100. (07)

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070623.H07&irec=6

 

[Commonground]

Re: Indonesia says plans to use human bird flu vaccine

The HANDLING of BIRD FLU- Department of Health Coba Vaksin AI to Manusia
on Sunday, 24/06/2007
Departemen of the Health (the Department of Health) planned to carry out the vaccination avian influenza (AI) to humankind.
This vaccination will be carried out to the area cluster (gathered).
Jakarta (SINDO) ?Menteri Kesehatan (Menkes) Siti Fadilah Supari said, the case cluster in the Motherland had happened in Kab Karo, North Sumatra.
Moreover, was suspected of happening also in Kab Garut, West Java, in 2006 set.
This vaccination will be carried out to the radius 1 kilometre from the location of the occurrence of the case.
??Pada time in Karo, we would did not yet know whether that was human to human transmission or animal to human transmission.Karena that, I had the right to decide to be done by imunisasi,?ujar Menkes.
According to him, the decision to be done the immunisation certainly with various consideration, among them consideration of the experts and the expert from inside and foreign.
However, the RI plan to vaccinate this humankind did not yet receive the Organisation agreement of the Health of the World (World Health Organisasi/WHO).
The reason is, the vaccination to wage war on the bird flu virus to this humankind just the first time being carried out in the world.
Therefore, did not yet have enough experiences or the empirical fact that showed like whether the exact vaccination system.
Nevertheless, stressed Siti Fadilah, the RI proposal to vaccinate the area cluster received the support from most WHO member countries.

??WHO the wish was only kept in the form of stockpiling and was not made by the vaccination.
Only as preparations for the pandemic.
If this was put into effect to in Europe, of course the pass because they did not have the case of bird flu.
We would his case figure was highest in dunia.Ibarat him, kitasedangdimedan the war to oppose the virus ini,? he explained.
The decision of this immunisation, added he, only went through Menkes and consideration of the expert.
Menkes said, at this time, the process of the clinical test the AI vaccine humankind strain Indonesia by Baxter Healthcare Company almost has been finished.
Beforehand, was planned in October, stockpile the vaccine could be just produced.
However, apparently, that became faster than the estimate beforehand.
Menkes said, the vaccination was given to the person- the person in the AI environment of the virus sufferer positive.
Because still was minimal the vaccination experience, pascavaksinasi will be carried out by the evaluation per the year.
??WHO said, must have his expert from WHO. ExpertWHO his experience where?
That his name expert that, the expert that berpengalaman.Pengalaman him where?
Wong, highest his case in the place kita,?ujar him.
The head of Publik Departemen Communication of the Health of Lily Sulistyowati explained, for the AI case positive that happened Kab Karo, South Sumatra, in 2006 set, was gotten by nine cases that happened in a beruntunpada manner in April, in May, danJuni.
Recorded, totalling seven people died and two other people were safe.
According to him, the AI case that happened in the Kubu Sembilang Village, Kec Tiga Panah, that was concluded as the case cluster.

Because, nine positive people terjangkit the AI virus was still having the family's relations and was remaining close.
From nine cases, added Lily, five among them lakilaki and four other the woman.
The first case struck PBG (perempuan,40) on April 27 2006, was followed by his two children of RKK (lakilaki, 19) on May 5 2006,dan BKK (the man, 18 ) on May 6 2006.
Afterwards, five other people, that still the close PBG family, that is, ABS (the woman, 29, the sister PBG) ,RG (the man, 10, the child from ABS), JG (the man, 35, relatives PBG), B (the woman, 1.6, the child ABS), TBG (the woman, 35, the nephew PBG) ,serta D (the man, 32, the father from RG). (Abdul the owner)
http://www.seputar-indonesia.com/ed...n-flu-burung-depkes-coba-vaksin-ai-ke-ma.html