What are people saying about...
Fri, 02-26-10 - 7:47am by KBenardello
WHO Recommending Swine and Seasonal Flu Vaccine Be Combined Next year
The FDA’s vaccine advisory committee met on Monday to discuss the WHO recommendation, and the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee voted on the idea on Wednesday. The FDA’s final decision will be announced before manufacturers start working on the flu vaccine for next year.
If the FDA does accept WHO’s recommendation, scientists need time to determine which strains of each type of the seasonal flu vaccines to include. The seasonal vaccines usually have three components, as three types of flu bugs circulate in humans: H1N1 and H3N2 type A viruses, and type B viruses.
Determining which components to include is a guessing game, as different strains of flu viruses sometimes become more prevalent. WHO flu expert Keiji Fukuda, MD, said in a news conference that if the H1N1 vaccine is included in the seasonal flu vaccine, it doesn’t mean the H1N1 pandemic is over. The world has to transition to a “post-pandemic period,” during which there will be flare-ups or even new national outbreaks of the H1N1 strain, he also said.
Written by: Karen Benardello
3 comments
Tue, 03-02-10 - 01:29 pm by antoniom626
I agree with Kbenardello
The only reason people are concerned with the swine flue is because the media is talking about. What was funny to me is that when the swine flu began making the rounds in the media, people were already covering up with masks and being super cautious of the disease. When HIV/AIDS came out 30 years ago and has actually killed million of people, they still don't protect themselves as best they could. If the media focused this much on cancer or AIDS then maybe their would be more awareness towards these real more life threatening diseases.
1 reply
Wed, 03-03-10 - 11:11 pm by KBenardello
While unfortunately there's still no known cure for AIDS, even three decades after it was discovered, people are still nervous about catching it, but know the proper precautions on how to protect themselves. Once a treatment for the swine flu becomes more commonplace, people should start to calm down and worry less about it.
Mon, 03-01-10 - 10:30 am by nitasantos2
I agree with Anne. There is
I agree with Anne. There is thousands of different flu's in the world. "Swine influenza was first proposed to be a disease related to human influenza during the 1918 flu pandemic, when pigs became sick at the same time as humans.[16] The first identification of an influenza virus as a cause of disease in pigs occurred about ten years later, in 1930.[17] For the following 60 years, swine influenza strains were almost exclusively H1N1. Then, between 1997 and 2002, new strains of three different subtypes and five different genotypes emerged as causes of influenza among pigs in North America. In 1997–1998, H3N2 strains emerged. These strains, which include genes derived by reassortment from human, swine and avian viruses, have become a major cause of swine influenza in North America. Reassortment between H1N1 and H3N2 produced H1N2. In 1999 in Canada, a strain of H4N6 crossed the species barrier from birds to pigs, but was contained on a single farm.[17]
The H1N1 form of swine flu is one of the descendants of the strain that caused the 1918 flu pandemic.[18][19] As well as persisting in pigs, the descendants of the 1918 virus have also circulated in humans through the 20th century, contributing to the normal seasonal epidemics of influenza.[19] However, direct transmission from pigs to humans is rare, with only 12 cases in the U.S. since 2005.[20] Nevertheless, the retention of influenza strains in pigs after these strains have disappeared from the human population might make pigs a reservoir where influenza viruses could persist, later emerging to reinfect humans once human immunity to these strains has waned.[21]
Swine flu has been reported numerous times as a zoonosis in humans, usually with limited distribution, rarely with a widespread distribution. Outbreaks in swine are common and cause significant economic losses in industry, primarily by causing stunting and extended time to market. For example, this disease costs the British meat industry about £65 million every year"
I really believe that these types of flu and panic are originated by the "huge" lobby behind the pharmaceutical industry. They invest millions of dollars and they need to recovery this money...
1 reply
Mon, 03-01-10 - 10:40 am by KBenardello
While everyone should try to protect themselves from the swine flu, they should protect themselves from all flu strains; they're all dangerous. Ideally, scientists will be able to find a vaccine for all flu strains and put it in one shot, so we won't have this scare again.
Fri, 02-26-10 - 02:00 pm by Anne-Steffie
Yes, but...
Make the perfect vaccine against flu viruses is very difficult because these viruses are so mutagenic. So, I think that even if they make a new vaccine, a new type of flu can appear next year.
Withal, if this probably next wear vaccine can save us epidemic and panic as we saw this year, that's of course better!
1 reply
Fri, 02-26-10 - 09:54 pm by KBenardello
But even if the FDA does find a safe way to combine the two, it's possible that another strain of the flu will come out next year. Scientists shouldn't be afraid to go ahead with vaccines just because another strain or outbreak is possible-people need to be protected against what's proven now.
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