Bird Flu: the First Vaccine is Here
This week, a major milestone in the ongoing war against the avian flu virus was achieved. The US FDA finally approved the first vaccine for humans.
On Tuesday, a major milestone in the ongoing war against the avian flu virus was achieved. The US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) finally approved the first vaccine for humans. It has been quite a race and for a while, it was feared that the enemy will strike before a vaccine is ready.
The avian flu, which is common among birds, was first reported in humans in 1997 in Hong Kong. The manifestation of the disease in humans was extremely aggressive and caused high mortalities. The disease has since spread to other countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the US, although human cases have only been reported in Asia and Africa. It is feared that the disease can develop into a full-blown pandemic, an epidemic on a global scale.
As part of pre-emptive measures against a possible pandemic, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) made available to manufacturers prototype seed strains of the virus to be used for vaccine development. In 2004, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) contracted pharmaceutical companies in the US to develop vaccines from the prototype. One of these companies was Sanofi Pasteur of Swift water, Pennsylvania . In 2006, Sanofi Pasteur reported a promising vaccine which elicited 54 to 67 % immune response in human volunteers.
On 26 April, the USFDA finally gave the go signal for the Sanofi Pasteur vaccine. The vaccine has several limitations, namely relatively low immune response rates and long administration time (2 doses in 1 month). However, this is the best that is available at the moment. Earlier this year, WHO reported promising progress in vaccine development. Several manufacturers from 10 different countries are developing prototype vaccines against H5N1 avian flu virus. Some of these prototypes are currently being tested in humans.
The approved vaccine won’t be available commercially. All production is being stockpiled by the federal government as part its contingency plans in the event of an epidemic. Only over 6 million doses are available as of this time. The challenge now is to manufacture the vaccine as fast as possible so that every gets dose. Unfortunately, universal vaccination will take years, even decades to implement. The licensing of the first vaccine is a very small step in eradicating the avian flu virus but it is nevertheless a step in the right direction.
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