In 2010 during the H1N1 flu epidemic, the FDA warned consumers about a potentially harmful counterfeit anti-flu drug that could be a killer in two respects: It lacked any of the flu-preventing medicine it purported to be while it did contain an antibiotic similar to penicillin that can be lethal to certain people.
Not only do we not know where we are going to be with swine flu in a few months time, we don't really know where we are.
For example, in the event of a serious flu outbreak in this country there would be a need for mechanical ventilator deployments to hospitals.
Then be proactive get a vaccine earlier in future flu seasons.
More likely the action will be in South and East Asia, especially if a flu pandemic can be avoided and resource issues can be alleviated with bountiful Russia as part of the mix.
The reason for that is that the influenza virus has a rapid rate of mutation, forcing companies that manufacture the vaccine to make their best guess as to which flu types will be more prevalent in a given season.
Or you may be exposed to a flu virus that is not included in the vaccine.
Following his guidelines, many nations are making large quantities of what they believe will be useful vaccines in the hope of defeating a possible pandemic of bird flu, should the virus spread from Asia.
But DFSAs do so in such a way that the flu virus cannot evolve to be resistant to the drug without rendering itself useless.
The UK Health Protection Agency estimates that around a quarter of the population could be affected by avian flu in the future, with possibly 50, 000 deaths in England and Wales alone.
"We have to prepare ourselves for the likelihood that swine flu will reach Guernsey, but it may not be in a way we initially expected, through travel to an infected area, " he added.
Egypt has ordered the nation's quarter of a million pigs to be slaughtered over swine flu fears, in the first such move in the world, even though experts say the virus cannot be transmitted by eating meat.
Viruses usually have to be rendered inert to work in humanity's favor, as anyone who has received a flu shot can attest.
The truth is that the answer is not clear at this time, and actually doing a study to determine its role in spreading the flu virus would be quite problematic.
The archaic technology for making them, which involves injecting influenza virus into chicken eggs and separating out the resulting antibodies, only allows for a few flu strains to be included and they must be picked far in advance.
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Also, says Bocchini, this is a new strain of flu, and no one in the population would be expected to be immune.
In a report to councillors, council officers said there were "a number of issues" that would need to be addressed in the delivery of the flu vaccine.
In a typical year, about 100 million people in the United States get flu shots and a fair amount of leftover vaccine must be destroyed at the end of the season.
But the deal is also likely to be seen as a validation of the worth of Chiron's flu-vaccine business, especially in the current climate.
GPs in Glasgow were warned on Friday to be on the lookout for a possible increase in the number of patients with problems including stomach cramps, mild flu and diarrhoea.
There was a slight rise in cases of flu over Christmas, however, the real number may be higher as many doctor's surgeries closed on bank holidays.
In an interview with CNN's Richard Quest, Witty said the new swine flu vaccine will likely be a boost to sales into 2010.
That may sound like a heap of money, and the margins, Porges estimates, will be significantly better than is usual in the flu-vaccine business.
The information can be used not just to analyze how a financial disaster is happening in real time, but also other natural disasters or a flu epidemic.
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"We have people without symptoms going into the emergency rooms asking to be screened for swine flu at the expense of people with real illness, " said Cathy Gichema, a nurse in Pikesville, Maryland.
"I just don't feel like there's a risk of having a complication from swine flu is high enough to proceed to taking that, but I would be open in the future once there was more data available, " she said.
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