More Swine Flu Vaccine Coming Soon

Related Encyclopedia • Abscess • Actinomycosis • Acute Myeloid Leukemia (Adult) • AIDS and HIV Infection More... Related Healthscout Videos Attacking Implant Infections How Do I Adhere to My HIV Medications? How Do I Use a Male and Female Condom? How Do I Get an HIV Test? More... Related Drug Information • Abilify • Augmentin • Bactroban Cream • Bactroban Ointment More... Related News Articles • Flu Meeting Highlights Latest Research • New Virus 'Jumps' From Monkey to Scientist, Causing Serious Illness • MRSA Strain With Outbreak Potential Among Reports at Disease Conference • Kids' Medicaid-Covered Flu Shots Put Docs at a Loss: Study More...

Page:  << Prev | 1 | 2

Had there been H1N1 vaccine available earlier it would have been incorporated as part of this year's seasonal flu shot, Frieden said.

"If we had H1N1 earlier in the season we would have most likely included it in the seasonal flu vaccine. So it would have been part of the regular flu vaccination program, as it will be for the Southern Hemisphere in [their] coming flu season," he said.

"We wish we had better technology," Frieden said. "We wish we had a technology that could produce vaccine in weeks or months rather than the six to nine months that it takes given the current tried-and-true technology," he said.

Text Continues Below

---

Other vaccine technologies are available, including cell-based vaccine and DNA technologies, Frieden noted. "They are all still experimental. We are not using any of them in this," he told reporters.

There is some encouraging news, Frieden said. The genetic makeup of the H1N1 virus hasn't changed since it first surfaced in April, meaning the swine flu vaccine and the antiviral drug Tamiflu are a good match.

In addition, there have been no changes in who appears most at risk for the swine flu, including children and young adults, he said.

While children continue to be particularly vulnerable to the disease, Frieden said Friday, "we are seeing it increasingly affect young adults as well as children. We are still not seeing significant numbers of cases among the elderly, and that's characteristic of this virus."

That's a marked difference from run-of-the-mill seasonal flu, which typically poses a much bigger threat to the elderly.

Last Friday, Frieden said the H1N1 flu would probably occur in waves, but "we can't predict how high, how far or long the wave will go, or when the next will come," he added.

"We are now in the second wave of pandemic influenza and whether this will continue through the fall into the winter, whether it will go away and come back in traditional flu season, only time will tell," he said.

More information

For more information on H1N1 swine flu, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Page:  << Prev | 1 | 2