WHO, experts to discuss making swine flu vaccine

By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

The World Health Organization on Wednesday said it will meet with flu experts next week to discuss whether drug companies should switch from making regular flu vaccines to ramping up for an H1N1 vaccine.

WHO on Wednesday confirmed 1,658 cases of the H1N1 influenza in 23 countries, including 30 deaths, as the virus continued to spread.

Marie-Paula Kieny, WHO's Director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research, said the group will hold a teleconference May 14 of its vaccine advisory committee, vaccine producers and country regulators to discuss whether there is enough evidence to recommend that manufacturers should start large scale manufacturing of the H1N1 vaccine, and make "a recommendation towards stopping seasonal production for vaccine."

Seasonal flu kills up to 500,000 people a year, giving WHO a strong reason to hesitate. Experts are still unsure how deadly the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, strain is, but because production takes months, a decision needs to be made soon.

WHO Director General Margaret Chan and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon have called for a meeting May 19 in Geneva with the heads of all the companies worldwide who make influenza vaccine.

The meeting would address production of the new vaccine and how it would be distributed around the world.

"This will be a high-level discussion with the manufacturer appealing to corporate responsibility and to working together toward increased equitable access" to ensure developing countries can acquire vaccines too, Kieny said.

Kieny said the world's vaccine producers could make about 1 to 2 billion doses of the H1N1 vaccine a year.

She said it would take between 4 to 6 months to go from having a culture of the flu virus to having shots ready for the public.

Currently, WHO is recommending "all manufacturers to put everything in place to be able to start manufacturing a vaccine," Kieny said.

WHO reported Wednesday that Mexico still has the most cases of the virus with 946 people infected throughout the country. Cases are continuing to increases in some countries, including Canada, France, Guatemala, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday there are 642 confirmed cases of the flu in 41 states.

Two people have died in the United States and 35 people have been hospitalized.

Contributing: Associated Press