Manufacturers Step-Up Production of H1N1 Vaccine
So far, as many as 5.7 million Americans have been infected with the H1N1 flu virus, which is widespread in 48 states—an unprecedented level for the early weeks of flu season. Yet the H1N1 vaccine supply continues to lag far behind what officials had estimated would be available, leaving public health departments, clinics, and doctor’s offices across the country scrambling for ways to vaccinate those at highest risk for complications. Officials initially announced that 120 million doses would be available by October 1. That number was later amended to 40 million, but as of Friday, only 26.6 million doses had been shipped. Even President Barack Obama has expressed frustration with the delays and Senators Joseph I. Lieberman and Susan Collins sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius demanding details about the lag in production.
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Over the years, immunization has saved millions of lives and prevented hundreds of millions of cases of disease. Today in the United States, children routinely get vaccines that protect them from 14 diseases, all of which, at one time or another, were a serious threat to our country’s children. For instance, diphtheria used to be one of the most dreaded of childhood diseases, killing more than 10,000 Americans each year, but today’s doctors are likely to never see a single case. And smallpox, which was one of the most devastating diseases the world has ever known, has been eradicated from the Earth thanks to vaccination.
It’s a subject you’ve already heard a great deal about, and one that won’t be going away anytime soon—the H1N1 flu virus. Widespread flu activity is already being reported in 37 states, virtually all due to H1N1. Across the nation, flu-related doctor visits, hospitalizations and deaths are increasing and are higher than expected for this time of year. From August 30 to October 3, there were 3,874 laboratory-confirmed influenza associated hospitalizations, 240 laboratory-confirmed influenza associated deaths, 12,384 pneumonia and influenza syndrome-based hospitalizations and 1,544 pneumonia and influenza syndrome deaths reported to the CDC. The agency is also reporting 19 influenza-associated pediatric deaths in the past week; 16 of which were associated with H1N1 virus infection and three with influenza A virus for which subtype was undetermined. 
Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave final approval to four vaccines developed to fight the H1N1 influenza virus. The four drugmakers granted approval are CSL Ltd, MedImmune LLC, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Ltd, and Sanofi Pasteur Inc. It is expected that the vaccines will be available for shipment within one month.
Officials estimate that since its emergence in early April, the H1N1 flu has infected as many as a million Americans. Its symptoms, which are similar to those of seasonal flu, may include fever, headache, coughing, sneezing, sore throat, and muscle or joint pains, which can last up to a week. A significant number of people who have been infected with the virus have also reported diarrhea and vomiting. Antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza have been found effective at treating and reducing the duration of the illness, usually by a day or two. But in order to be most useful, they must be administered within 12 to 48 hours of symptoms onset. That could be a problem considering that identifying the virus by traditional cell culture can take days, and the rapid detection tests that can provide results in 30 minutes or less fail to identify H1N1 more than half the time, according to a new government report.