SELECTED ARTICLES FROM THE RECENT LITERATURE 2004
November, 2004
CDC to allocate remaining doses of flu vaccine
Summary
Background - Because of the recent 50% decrease in the anticipated supply of influenza (Flu) vaccine for current use in 2004, there has been considerable misunderstanding and even panic in some quarters when those at increased risk for Flu infection cannot readily find a site where they can be immunized.
Findings - The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently announced that, working closely with state and local public health officials, they have developed plans to distribute the 10.3 million remaining doses of the Flu vaccine made by Aventis-Pasteur. This plan should assure that those at increased risk for complications of Flu infection will have first priority in getting immunized.
The CDC is also inspecting the manufacturing sites of several overseas companies that make a Flu vaccine that should be similar in content to that made by Aventis-Pasteur but had not been previously FDA approved. If deemed safe to use by the FDA, such vaccine supplies could be distributed under an "investigational new drug" protocol that meets FDA requirements.
Also available are 3 million doses of Flu Mist, a live Flu vaccine administered by nasal spray. Flu Mist is approved for use in healthy people ages 5-49 years.
Editor's Comments
Considerable frustration has arisen since the Chiron Corp. (the other FDA approved manufacturer of Flu vaccine for use in 2004-2005) closed down its Flu vaccine facility in early 10/04 because of some contamination problems. Part of this frustration has been due to the inconsistent supplies of the remaining vaccine made by Aventis-Pasteur, the other manufacturer. In some hospitals and doctors' offices, the full ordered supplies were available, while other health care facilities had meager or even no supplies. This disparity may be due partially to the fact that Aventis-Pasteur had already shipped 33 million of its expected 58 million doses of Flu vaccine prior to Chiron's announcement on 10/5/04. If a health facility was fortunate, it had received its ordered supplies of the vaccine before the Chiron announcement. However, for those who had not received the vaccine supplies by then, only about 25 million doses remained to be rationed with obvious consequences.However, there may be some encouraging news in this area. A recent study found that 0.1 ml of the Flu vaccine injected intradermally induced an anti-Flu antibody response that was similar to that occurring after the usual IM injection of 0.5 ml of this vaccine (see our "What Your Patients are Reading" portion of the News section of this AADMC website for more details). Use of this intradermal approach could allow Flu immunization in up to 5 times as many people. However, it should be emphasized that the injection must be truly intradermal without leakage into subcutaneous tissue to get this effective immunization.
|