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EPIDEMICS
Britons reluctant to have swine flu vaccine: poll

Canadian-made swine flu shots approved by US regulator
Washington (AFP) Nov 17, 2009 - The US Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it has approved a Canadian-made shot against swine flu. The vaccine is the fifth approved by the FDA for use in the United States, where a massive campaign to vaccinate tens of millions of Americans against swine flu has come up against a severe shortage of vaccine. Fewer than half of the 160 million doses that health officials had originally said would be available by the end of October have been delivered. The shortfall has been blamed in part on the outdated method used to produce vaccine, which relies on growing a seed stock of the virus in chicken eggs.

Like the other four vaccines approved by the FDA for use in the United States, the new vaccine, made by ID Biomedical of Quebec, is manufactured "using the established, licensed egg-based manufacturing process used for producing seasonal flu vaccine," the US food and drug regulator said. The vaccine will be produced in multi-dose vials and will contain the preservative thimerosal, which contains mercury. Pregnant women, who are one of five groups at heightened risk of developing severe complications and dying from swine flu, have to have the injectable form of the pandemic H1N1 vaccine because it is made with killed virus. The other form, a nasal spray, is made with live, greatly weakened virus and is not advised for pregnant women, children under the age of two and people with chronic health conditions such as asthma, other groups who have priority for vaccination. Swine flu vaccine was tested on pregnant women in the United States, but the vaccine that was tested did not contain thimerosal.
by Staff Writers
 London (AFP) Nov 18, 2009
 Many Britons are refusing to have swine flu vaccinations because of concerns about side effects and the general perception that it is a mild illness, a newspaper for doctors reported on Wednesday.

A survey of 107 general practitioners (GPs) by Pulse newspaper reported particular difficulties persuading pregnant women to have the vaccine, with one GP estimating as few as one in 20 were happy to go ahead.

Experts believe pregnant women are particularly at risk from the A(H1N1) virus.

More than 100 people have died from the virus in Britain, although the overwhelming majority had underlying health problems.

The British government has set a target of vaccinating 50.7 percent of patients aged from six months to 65 years in clinical at-risk groups, but GPs fear they will fall short of the target.

Just 37 percent of respondents said they believed the target was realistic, based on their experience of offering the vaccine to patients so far, and others reported problems with the delivery of supplies.

Dr Gary Calver, a GP in Folkestone, southeast England, said: "A number of patients were very negative about having swine flu vaccination. It's going to be extremely difficult to meet targets."

Another GP, Ian Pace, from Lincolnshire, eastern England, told Pulse: "We start tomorrow but with only 500 vaccines available to us there is not a cat's chance in hell of vaccinating all the target group."

The editor of Pulse, Richard Hoey, said the government had failed to sufficiently make its case for the benefits of the vaccine.

"Many patients, like a substantial number of doctors, are unconvinced there is sufficient evidence that swine flu vaccination is safe and necessary.

"The government needs to be much clearer about the safety data it has gathered on the vaccine so far," he said.

More than 5,700 people have died worldwide since the virus was first discovered in April, with most deaths in the Americas, according to the World Health Organization.

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