Swine Flu Drugs
Swine Flu Vaccine Update
Hitherto, the swine flu vaccine has been mired in controversy, with conflicting reports emanating from all over the world. While a swine flu vaccine used in the United Kingdom has reportedly some very dangerous side effects and is actually more dangerous than the swine flu infection itself, other reports of flu vaccines have claimed efficacy of a one shot vaccine tested in China.
Swine Flu Vaccine, Photo courtesy http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard
Bad News
As reported by UK daily Examiner, there is a furore about a swine flu vaccine that has some dangerous side effects such as being linked with a brain disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which is a rapidly degenerative nerve disease that can cause paralysis, respiratory problems and even death. Reportedly the vaccine is similar to one that the US used in a 1976 swine flu outbreak, and that vaccine caused more deaths than the swine flu!
Good News
There is however good news also about the Swine Flu vaccine as reported by Reuters; states that a one shot swine flu vaccine has been developed by Sinovac Biotech, a Chinese pharmaceutical company. Until now it was believed that at least two shots would be required for a swine flu vaccine to be effective in terms of the immunity it would provide, however this is a breakthrough that could mean that more people will be vaccinated and that the reach of the vaccine could improve owing to this fact.
News from India
There is heartening news on the development of the indigenous swine flu vaccine in India, and the Hindu reports that a swine flu vaccine should hit the market in about four months. So does that mean that we have to wait four months to get vaccinated against the H1 N1 virus? Indian health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has indicated that it is not the case; that it will be imported into India before that. The health ministry is reportedly in talks with 4 companies world wide, Novartis, CSL, Sanofi Pasteur and Baxter, all of whom are currently in the process of testing and developing vaccines for swine flu.
The Indian Express reports that the World Health Organisation has given $ 2 million to Pune based Serum Institute to develop the swine flu vaccine, since “India will be ready with the vaccine in another two to four months,” according to Dr Poonam K Singh, deputy regional director of WHO’s office in Delhi. The company will develop a vaccine for common flu as well as swine flu, for which it is currently undergoing trials.
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