A single dose of swine-flu vaccine works well for most pregnant women, but young children will still need two doses for best results, U.S. health officials said Monday. Twenty-one days after receiving a single 15-microgram dose of the vaccine, 92 percent of pregnant women showed a strong immune response, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institutes for Health's infectious disease unit. A bigger 30-microgram dose produced a strong response in 96 percent of pregnant women, Fauci told a news conference at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “This should be reassuring news to those women who have received the vaccine,” he said. While a single dose is recommended for healthy adults and pregnant women, officials have said younger children will need two doses. That has been confirmed by continuing studies, Fauci said. The H1N1 virus is currently widespread in 48 states, and hospitalizations and deaths continue to increase, Dr. Ann Schuchat, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director of immunization, told the HHS news conference. She said 30 million doses of the vaccine are now available. There will be continued supply challenges, but she said supply is expected to catch up with demand.
