VACCINE Ohio officials see no worry

The national shortage hit before the flu season.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- There won't be any shortage of flu vaccine in Ohio, state Department of Health officials say.
That's because Ohio gets its vaccine from a supplier other than the one that stopped production Tuesday, cutting in half the U.S. supply of vaccine.
British regulators suspended the license of the Chiron Corp., maker of the Fluvirin vaccine, because of manufacturing problems at its Liverpool, England, plant.
But Ohio health department spokesman Christopher Weiss said the state has no fears of a vaccine shortage because it purchases its supply from Aventis Pasteur.
The state gets 100,000 doses through a federal immunization program for children and plans to purchase 280,000 additional doses for others, he said.
Meanwhile, federal health officials are urging doctors to restrict flu shots to those patients at highest risk from influenza.
Vaccine should be reserved for babies and toddlers ages 6-23 months; people 65 or older; anyone with a chronic condition such as heart or lung disease; pregnant women; nursing home residents; children on aspirin therapy; health care workers who care for high-risk groups; and anyone who cares for or lives with babies younger than 6 months.
For everyone else, "Take a deep breath. This is not an emergency," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "We don't want people to rush out and look for a vaccine today."
The government has urged voluntary rationing before, during a shortage in 2000. This year, however, will mark a record shortage just before flu season begins.
"We will need the help of the public," said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.
Chiron's problem began in August, when it discovered contamination in a small amount of vaccine that delayed its U.S. shipments.
Still, top U.S. health officials assured the public less than two weeks ago that close monitoring showed the rest of Chiron's supply was fine, and plenty of vaccine would be available.
Tuesday, British regulators disagreed and suspended Chiron's license for three months, officially prohibiting export of the Fluvirin brand that Chiron manufactures in Liverpool.
The sanction means more than a delay, Chiron officials said. The company will ship no Fluvirin anywhere this year.
The move took U.S. regulators by surprise. Food and Drug Administration officials headed to Britain on Tuesday night to investigate but wouldn't say if they would ask British regulators for a special release of shots for use here if the flu season proves a bad one.
Chiron had brought more than 1 million doses to this country before its license was suspended but hasn't released the batch, Thompson said. He would not say if those doses were potentially usable.
Thompson asked the maker of the remaining 54 million flu shots to try to make more. Aventis Pasteur plans to try but can't increase production until it meets current orders in November.
High-risk patients depend on flu shots because the injections are made of killed influenza virus. Other people have another option: About 1 million doses of an inhaled flu vaccine, MedImmune Inc.'s FluMist, will be available for healthy 5- to 49-year-olds. It's made from live but weakened influenza virus.
A flu treatment called Tamiflu also can protect against infection if swallowed daily during an outbreak. Manufacturer Roche Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday it would step up production in anticipation of greater demand this winter.
Flu vaccine is made using chicken eggs and takes months to brew, meaning manufacturers cannot suddenly produce more.
Yet vaccine shortages and delays have plagued the country for several years, and Tuesday's debacle prompted scientists to urge that the system be modernized.
"This points up the vulnerability of our influenza vaccine supply," said Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University, a government vaccine adviser.
Congress allocated $50 million in the 2004 budget to begin making such changes, half the amount federal health officials had requested. Thompson urged Tuesday that lawmakers provide $100 million next year.