The latest issue of The New England Journal of Medicine
(March 30) includes research on the effectiveness of a U.S. funded experimental
avian flu vaccine.
Unfortunately, it isn’t very effective.
The vaccine works on only about half the people inoculated, and
the effective dose is much greater than originally thought -- meaning the U.S.
federal government's current stockpile of vaccine is completely inadequate.
The dose that was most effective, two shots of 90 micrograms
each, is several times larger than the conventional flu shot given each year.
These shots require 12X more active ingredients than in normal flu vaccine. That
means the current stockpile will inoculate only 2– 4 million people depending on
strain of H5N1, and be effective on only about half of these people. Most are
expected to be health workers.
Worse, the vaccine may not work at all against the strain of
H5N1 that is currently ravaging Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
A number of other experimental vaccine approaches are being
developed. However, with testing and manufacturing constraints, they are years
away from being effective and widely available, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci,
Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
