WHO discusses swine-flu vaccine

GENEVA (AP) — As swine-flu cases topped 6,600 worldwide, vaccine makers and other experts met Thursday at the World Health Organization to discuss the tough decisions that must be made quickly to fight the evolving virus.

Pharmaceutical companies are ready to begin making a swine-flu vaccine — but as the virus may mutate, questions abound: How much should be produced? How will it be distributed? Who should get it?

The expert group’s recommendations will be passed to WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, who is expected to issue advice to vaccine manufacturers and the World Health Assembly next week.

WHO’s flu chief said the meeting of industry representatives and independent experts sought to answer questions including when to recommend to manufacturers that they switch from a seasonal vaccine to one that works against the pandemic strain.

“No big decisions, no announcements,” Keiji Fukuda told reporters after the meeting.

“These are enormously complicated questions, and they are not something that anyone can make in a single meeting.”

But some feel the main decision has already been made.

“It’s a forgone conclusion,” said David Fedson, a vaccines expert and former professor of medicine at the University of Virginia. “If we don’t invest in an H1N1 [swine flu] vaccine, then possibly we could have a reappearance of this virus in a mild, moderate, or catastrophic form, and we would have absolutely nothing.SDRq

Most flu-vaccine companies can only make one vaccine at a time: seasonal-flu vaccine or pandemic vaccine. Production takes months, and it is impossible to switch halfway through if health officials make a mistake.

At the moment, health officials aren’t sure how deadly swine flu is, and whether they will need more seasonal-flu vaccine or swine-flu vaccine. And if the swine flu mutates, scientists aren’t sure how effective a vaccine made now from the current strain will remain.

WHO estimates that up to 2 billion doses of swine-flu vaccine could be produced every year, though the first batches wouldn’t be available for four to six months.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently working on a “seed stock” to make the vaccine, which should be ready in the next couple of weeks. That will be distributed to manufacturers worldwide so they can start producing the vaccine.