American scientists are utilizing a new method to produce enough avian flu vaccines in an extremely short time frame. The goal is to immunize the entire population of the country within 4 weeks!
With a grant of $1.6 million from the government, virologist Suresh Mittal, Director of the Gene Therapy Laboratory at Purdue University, is conducting this work.
 |
An H5N1 vaccine produced from the H5N1 strain in Vietnam |
The new vaccine contains adenovirus, a type of virus that typically causes respiratory infections in both children and adults. However, this adenovirus has been modified to be harmless and contains important gene segments of the avian flu virus. When injected into the body, the adenovirus releases harmless genes of the flu virus, triggering an immune response similar to that of a conventional flu vaccine.
Using the adenovirus method, pharmaceutical companies can produce enough avian flu vaccines for the entire nation within one month.
Currently, producing conventional flu vaccines using chicken egg embryos takes at least 6 months.
Mittal has bypassed chicken eggs and created a new vaccine by culturing cells. As a result, a pharmaceutical company can mass-produce vaccines in a short time. However, Mittal has not yet conducted clinical trials for the mentioned vaccine, which means that this type of vaccine will not be available for humans until October 2006.
Meanwhile, President Bush has called for the establishment of an emergency fund of $7.1 billion, primarily to expedite the production of avian flu vaccines. Currently, two pharmaceutical companies are producing H5N1 vaccines in the United States. One is being tested in humans. However, similar to the adenovirus vaccine, these vaccines are not ready for this year’s flu season.
Minh Sơn (According to Science)
