New Bird Flu vaccine reported

New Bird Flu Vaccine reported

A new vaccine against bird flu developed by GlaxoSmithKline has just been announced yesterday which is reputed to be more effective than any previous version and works at a far smaller dose, the company reported yesterday on its Web site. The ability to immunize people with small doses greatly increases the possibility of making enough vaccine to protect much of the population in the event of a pandemic.


Until now, high dosage requirements have been a major obstacle to making a vaccine for avian flu. An earlier vaccine, made a year ago by Sanofi Pasteur and stockpiled by the government, required such large doses that it would be difficult or impossible to keep up with a pandemic. It was reported at that time that over $9 Billion had been allocated for the stockpiling this vaccine and it would be of interest to learn what the US government intends to do with that stockpile.

GlaxoSmithKline said it had tested its vaccine in Belgium in 400 healthy people, ages 18 to 60, who were then given blood tests to measure their immune systemsÕ response. The tests showed that more than 80 percent of the subjects were protected by two shots, each containing only 3.8 micrograms of an antigen, an immunity-stimulating substance made from the bird flu virus. By contrast, the first Sanofi vaccine protected only about 50 percent of the test subjects, who received two shots with much higher doses, 90 micrograms each.

But health officials said it was too early to make any recommendations about how and when the vaccine should be used if it reached the market. And it is not clear that the vaccine would still be effective if the virus mutated.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said GlaxoSmithKlineÕs findings were Òvery, very impressive.Ó But he cautioned that the results were based only on blood tests, not real-life exposure ÒThe proof of the pudding is, how does it work in the field,Ó he said, adding that it would be especially important to find out if the vaccine still worked if the bird flu virus began to change genetically. It is too early, he said, to tell what the governmentÕs plans might be for buying and stockpiling this vaccine.

Members may recollect that I suggested a year ago at the time that the flu vaccine was first announced that a fraction of this vast sum of $9 Billion be shared with Homeopathic laboratories to be used to identify a remedy for this disease but as far as I am aware this has not been done. This was of course expected and is symptomatic of the general attitude of the medical profession anti Homeopathy and they would prefer to stockpile a drug in vast quantities which when a newer and more effective drug is identified, the entire stockpile goes up in smoke with no mention made of its destruction.

Only 9 Billion Dollars worth !