Adequate Supply of Swine Flu Vaccine Uncertain - US News and World Report

Adequate Supply of Swine Flu Vaccine Uncertain - US News and World Report: "MONDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- The current swine flu outbreak is raising critical questions about the timing of bringing a new vaccine to market and the logistics of getting it to the people who need it.

If vaccine manufacturers shift gears immediately, it could cut into this fall's production of seasonal influenza vaccine, experts say. If they wait too long, the H1N1 influenza (swine flu) virus could become more virulent.

Global vaccine experts, as part of a series of meetings convened by the World Health Organization (WHO), met Thursday to weigh the evidence that will lead to a recommendation to manufacturers.

"These are enormously complicated questions, and they're not something that anyone can make [decisions about] in a single meeting," Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's interim assistant director-general for health security and environment, said during a Thursday press briefing.

The WHO is expected to issue advice to vaccine manufacturers and the World Health Assembly this week, the Associated Press reported"


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