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Experts hope H1N1 will spur effort on universal jab
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 02 - 10 - 2009


The H1N1 swine flu pandemic should
spur pharmaceutical researchers to renew efforts to develop a
universal flu vaccine and rethink ways of dealing with future
pandemics, Reuters quoted scientists as saying today.
Flu experts from the World Health Organisation, Swiss drug
giant Novartis AG, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and
others noted that the arrival of H1N1 had prompted a jump in the
potential output of vaccine manufacturing to 900 million doses
from 400 million.
But in a letter to the journal Science, they urged drug and
health industries to be more proactive in developing and
distributing vaccines -- and in particular to speed up the
search for a universal flu vaccine.
"Although the H1N1 pandemic has the potential to cause a
social and economic emergency, it also provides an opportunity to
rethink our approach to influenza virus disease and to develop
more effective vaccines and economically sustainable solutions
for developing and developed countries," they wrote. "Research
toward development of a universal vaccine should be
accelerated."
A universal flu vaccine which would combat all strains of
the virus has so far eluded pharmaceutical firms and scientists.
Inovio Biomedical Corp, which is working on such a vaccine,
said this week that it expects initial evidence early next year
on whether the technology it is using can help to fight
diseases.
Johnson & Johnson, the world's biggest diversified health
care company, recently bought a stake in Dutch biotech firm
Crucell partly to get hold of flu-mAb, a universal antibody
engineered to prevent and treat infections from various
influenza A strains.
The swine flu outbreak was declared a pandemic in June and
has already infected millions of people around the world.
Drugmakers and governments have been scrambling to make and
supply vaccines targeting the new H1N1 strain before a feared
second wave of infection hits as the northern hemisphere heads
into winter.
The flu experts, including Dr David Salisbury, director of
immunisation at Britain's Department of Health, and Dr John
Treanor, who tests flu vaccines at the University of Rochester
Medical Center in New York, criticised the current approach to
flu as "reactive rather than anticipatory".
"We have already learned a great deal about fighting
influenza, but we need to move from a reactive to a proactive
and sustainable stance," they wrote.
They said better flu surveillance methods were needed in
developing countries to understand how such viruses circulate
globally and affect morbidity and mortality.
They also proposed strengthening epidemiological studies in
developing countries to try to fill "knowledge gaps" about the
virus, including the role of antibodies, immune memory, and
T-cells that recognise and destroy viruses.


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