Shelby Anderson
9/3/09
4:18 pm
Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a Chinese drug company, produced the first H1N1 "Swine Flu" vaccine. In recent tests, they have found that a single dose of the vaccine can protect an adult from the virus instead of the two doses they originally hypothesized they would need. Vaccine production is being kicked into high gear because the government fears that if a large outbreak happens in the following months, which is a large possibility, the people of China will flow into the hospitals and would stress their health-care program. They also fear the chance that the swine flu could mutate and fuse with another virus. China suspects that they will be able to produce enough vaccine for 65 million people, which is only five percent of the country's population. Along with trying to produce enough vaccines for their own people, the World Health Organization (WHO) are trying to persuade the Chinese to set aside at least ten percent of what they produced to give to developing countries. Spokesman Mao Qunan of the Ministry of Health stated they haven't made any plans to help other countries outside of their own, but will "try their best" to help them. In total, there are twenty-five countries developing H1N1 vaccines, but there are only two are going to donate to countries in need. The World Health Organization stresses that they are doing all they can to help the developing countries which are highly susceptible to an outbreak because the state of their health-care systems. The need for these vaccines will increase as we progress in the year and the disease begins to spread.
Swine flu is becoming more dangerous and widespread as the year progresses and the need for vaccines is crucial. If we plan on containing the disease and treating those who already have the disease, governments from all nations need to look toward the global need. This disease is a problem that the entire world has to deal with, not just certain countries who are able to afford it. The people who live in countries with bad health-care systems are the ones who are going to suffer the most. If the disease gets out of control in these countries, it could spread a lot farther and create a lot more problems for everyone. If the companies are able, they should share the wealth with the countries who can't afford to do it on their own.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125198466331383281.html
3 comments:
China better share that vaccine or they will have a bunch of unhappy governments on their hands. How are they supposed to give out enough vaccine when they can't even produce enough for all the people in their *own* country? We need to jack that recipe. "Try their best." Pshhhh... We'll see, I guess!
I wonder if other countries would be able to produce that same vaccine if the drug company shared what they were doing. I read an article recently where doctors were saying that if patients with heart disease got the H1N1 virus it could be a “deadly mix” which could cause higher death rates from it. I wonder what they would do about getting patients with both problems the vaccine.
People with heart disease, infants, young children and elders are all considered "at risk" in all types of influenza (not just pandemic strains). The reason this one is considered more deadly is because it has been known to kill those not in the "at risk" group, but young, formerly healthy victims.
In my opinion, I hope the shots are never mandatory. Vaccines are being created at such a fast rate that long term studies won't be completed any time soon. And often vaccines are made from viral material. It is still possible to avoid infections at this point by following normal method of avoiding the flu.
Remember to wash your hands!(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19115974?ordinalpos=17&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum)
The medical recommendation for developing countries is "heightened surveillance" - documenting cases with flu like symptoms, "early detection" and "appropriate medical care." Wealthy nations are encouraged to share and stockpile.
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19681650?ordinalpos=14&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum)
I have no opposition to others getting the shot but i would rather not (unless, of course, i already had it.).
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