MARK D. MERUEÑAS, GMANews.TV
06/19/2009 | 09:19 PM
MANILA, Philippines – At least one pharmaceutical firm has run out of stock of flu vaccines amid increasing public awareness about the Influenza A(H1N1) virus.
A GMA Network employee gets an anti-flu shot from a nurse during the broadcast company's mass vaccination in Quezon City Friday. - Joe Galvez, GMANews.TV
An official of Sanofi-Pasteur Inc. told GMANews.TV that the demand for flu vaccines has doubled compared to the same period in 2008. However, the company refused to disclose figures on the volume of flu vaccines the firm manufactured this year.
Rio Buquid, a key account specialist of the pharmaceutical firm, said that in previous years, their vaccine stock usually lasted until September. But this year, the firm’s supply was sold out by June due to increased demand brought by the global A(H1N1) virus scare, she said.
Buquid said Sanofi-Pasteur is trying to tap affiliates from other countries to provide additional stocks of the vaccine to the Philippines, which has the highest number of A(H1N1) cases in Southeast Asia.
Dr. Yolanda Oliveros, director of the Department of Health's National Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said she has also received reports of flu vaccine stocks running out.
She said there was nothing wrong with more people wanting to get flu shots, but she cautioned the public against having a "false sense of protection against A(H1N1) because these vaccines do not give that."
Dr. Oliveros said the vaccines currently available in the market only protect people from regular seasonal flu and not the A(H1N1) virus. However, she said the increased demand for flu vaccines could still help prevent the flu scare from getting worse.
For one, more people getting flu shots would prevent “re-assortment," which happens when the A(H1N1) virus mutates. Buquid explained that when the A(H1N1) virus gets in contact with a person who is already sick with seasonal flu, it could produce yet another new strain.
“The A(H1N1) could still form new hybrids," she said.
Buquid said the A(H1N1) virus is itself a hybrid that was formed when a regular swine flu virus got mixed with the seasonal flu virus of humans. She quoted experts as saying that the A(H1N1) virus could have originated from a person who was already suffering from the regular human flu.
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Frequently asked questions on VACCINATION AND INFLUENZA A(H1N1)
Will the currently available seasonal vaccine provide protection against influenza A(H1N1)?
The best scientific evidence currently suggests that seasonal influenza vaccines will offer little or no protection against influenza A (H1N1).
What is WHO doing to facilitate production of influenza A(H1N1) vaccines?
As soon as the first human cases of new influenza A (H1N1) infection became known, the WHO Collaborating Center in Atlanta (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US) took immediate action and began work on developing candidate vaccine viruses. WHO also initiated consultations with vaccine manufacturers worldwide to facilitate the availability of all necessary material to start production of a vaccine.
Will there be enough influenza A(H1N1) vaccine for everyone?
The estimated time to make enough vaccine to vaccinate the world's population against pandemic influenza will not be known until vaccine manufacturers will have been able to determine how much active ingredient (antigen) is needed to make one dose of effective influenza A (H1N1) vaccine and whether 1 or 2 doses are needed to protect one person.
Source: World Health Organization
Click here to see full text of WHO FAQs on vaccination and Influenza A(H1N1). - GMANews.TV
----------
“Kasi kung wala namang flu ang tao, hindi mare-recognize ng katawan niya ang flu virus na galing sa baboy [The virus could have only mutated in a person already suffering from flu]," Buquid said.
In a way, the increasing demand for flu vaccines has helped the government because the number of people stricken by flu has gone down, Oliveros said.
“The burden on our health system is reduced. Not so many people go to facilities because many are already protected," said Oliveros. With fewer flu patients, the government can maximize its health resources, she added.
Unprepared
Health advocates have criticized the country’s health system due to the government’s “palliative" and “knee-jerk" reactions to the flu pandemic.
The Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) went as far as saying that the government’s unpreparedness for the A(H1N1) spread was more alarming than the virus itself.
“The government has no comprehensive and systematic mechanism in place for the prevention, monitoring, and management of infectious diseases like the A(H1N1) virus," said Dr. Darby Santiago, HEAD chairperson and consultant at the Philippine General Hospital.
Santiago said that the public’s “misplaced fears and apprehension" served as proof that they are inadequately informed about the health hazards posed by the mutant virus.
The group of doctors and health professionals fear that the A(H1N1) situation in the provinces could be much worse since health care systems there are often neglected.
The DOH has said that despite funding setbacks, the agency has carried out efforts to contain the spread. Health officials have been highly visible since the start of the pandemic, giving advice to both the public and institutions where infections were detected, and ordering the tracing of contacts of the infected. No Filipino fatalities have been recorded.
As of Friday, the Philippine tally of A(H1N1) cases has remained locked at 344, with 262 patients fully recovered. Some schools have decided to go into a 10-day class suspension, while most have already gone back to their regular calendar. - GMANews.TV
From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.
06/19/2009 | 09:19 PM
MANILA, Philippines – At least one pharmaceutical firm has run out of stock of flu vaccines amid increasing public awareness about the Influenza A(H1N1) virus.
A GMA Network employee gets an anti-flu shot from a nurse during the broadcast company's mass vaccination in Quezon City Friday. - Joe Galvez, GMANews.TVAn official of Sanofi-Pasteur Inc. told GMANews.TV that the demand for flu vaccines has doubled compared to the same period in 2008. However, the company refused to disclose figures on the volume of flu vaccines the firm manufactured this year.
Rio Buquid, a key account specialist of the pharmaceutical firm, said that in previous years, their vaccine stock usually lasted until September. But this year, the firm’s supply was sold out by June due to increased demand brought by the global A(H1N1) virus scare, she said.
Buquid said Sanofi-Pasteur is trying to tap affiliates from other countries to provide additional stocks of the vaccine to the Philippines, which has the highest number of A(H1N1) cases in Southeast Asia.
Dr. Yolanda Oliveros, director of the Department of Health's National Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said she has also received reports of flu vaccine stocks running out.
She said there was nothing wrong with more people wanting to get flu shots, but she cautioned the public against having a "false sense of protection against A(H1N1) because these vaccines do not give that."
Dr. Oliveros said the vaccines currently available in the market only protect people from regular seasonal flu and not the A(H1N1) virus. However, she said the increased demand for flu vaccines could still help prevent the flu scare from getting worse.
For one, more people getting flu shots would prevent “re-assortment," which happens when the A(H1N1) virus mutates. Buquid explained that when the A(H1N1) virus gets in contact with a person who is already sick with seasonal flu, it could produce yet another new strain.
“The A(H1N1) could still form new hybrids," she said.
Buquid said the A(H1N1) virus is itself a hybrid that was formed when a regular swine flu virus got mixed with the seasonal flu virus of humans. She quoted experts as saying that the A(H1N1) virus could have originated from a person who was already suffering from the regular human flu.
----------
Frequently asked questions on VACCINATION AND INFLUENZA A(H1N1)
Will the currently available seasonal vaccine provide protection against influenza A(H1N1)?
The best scientific evidence currently suggests that seasonal influenza vaccines will offer little or no protection against influenza A (H1N1).
What is WHO doing to facilitate production of influenza A(H1N1) vaccines?
As soon as the first human cases of new influenza A (H1N1) infection became known, the WHO Collaborating Center in Atlanta (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US) took immediate action and began work on developing candidate vaccine viruses. WHO also initiated consultations with vaccine manufacturers worldwide to facilitate the availability of all necessary material to start production of a vaccine.
Will there be enough influenza A(H1N1) vaccine for everyone?
The estimated time to make enough vaccine to vaccinate the world's population against pandemic influenza will not be known until vaccine manufacturers will have been able to determine how much active ingredient (antigen) is needed to make one dose of effective influenza A (H1N1) vaccine and whether 1 or 2 doses are needed to protect one person.
Source: World Health Organization
Click here to see full text of WHO FAQs on vaccination and Influenza A(H1N1). - GMANews.TV
----------
“Kasi kung wala namang flu ang tao, hindi mare-recognize ng katawan niya ang flu virus na galing sa baboy [The virus could have only mutated in a person already suffering from flu]," Buquid said.
In a way, the increasing demand for flu vaccines has helped the government because the number of people stricken by flu has gone down, Oliveros said.
“The burden on our health system is reduced. Not so many people go to facilities because many are already protected," said Oliveros. With fewer flu patients, the government can maximize its health resources, she added.
Unprepared
Health advocates have criticized the country’s health system due to the government’s “palliative" and “knee-jerk" reactions to the flu pandemic.
The Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) went as far as saying that the government’s unpreparedness for the A(H1N1) spread was more alarming than the virus itself.
“The government has no comprehensive and systematic mechanism in place for the prevention, monitoring, and management of infectious diseases like the A(H1N1) virus," said Dr. Darby Santiago, HEAD chairperson and consultant at the Philippine General Hospital.
Santiago said that the public’s “misplaced fears and apprehension" served as proof that they are inadequately informed about the health hazards posed by the mutant virus.
The group of doctors and health professionals fear that the A(H1N1) situation in the provinces could be much worse since health care systems there are often neglected.
The DOH has said that despite funding setbacks, the agency has carried out efforts to contain the spread. Health officials have been highly visible since the start of the pandemic, giving advice to both the public and institutions where infections were detected, and ordering the tracing of contacts of the infected. No Filipino fatalities have been recorded.
As of Friday, the Philippine tally of A(H1N1) cases has remained locked at 344, with 262 patients fully recovered. Some schools have decided to go into a 10-day class suspension, while most have already gone back to their regular calendar. - GMANews.TV
From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.
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