Swine flu vaccine ready for tests after pandemic declared

GENEVA: A Swiss pharmaceutical giant said Friday it had a swine flu vaccine ready for trial as governments stepped up precautions following the World Health Organization’s declaration of a pandemic.

While millions could catch the flu, governments and health experts around the world have sought to play down fears that influenza A(H1N1) could become a major killer.

Swine flu has so far infected almost 30,000 people in 74 countries and claimed 145 lives since it was first detected in Mexico in April, according to WHO figures.

Swiss drugs firm Novartis says it has completed a first batch of vaccine for pre-clinical trials and aims to make a version available in about four months.

‘Novartis has successfully completed the production of the first batch of influenza A(H1N1) vaccine, weeks ahead of expectations,’ the company said in a statement.

The batch ‘will be used for pre-clinical evaluation and testing and is also being considered for use in clinical trials,’ it said.

Novartis hopes to start the trials in July and to gain a licence soon after. It said more than 30 governments had already asked for A(H1N1) virus ‘vaccine ingredients.’

The UN health agency raised its global alert to a maximum six on Thursday after experts agreed that swine flu has reached pandemic status because of its geographical spread.

WHO Director General Margaret Chan said the declaration of a ‘moderate’ pandemic should not spark panic and did not mean the A(H1N1) death toll would rise sharply.

She said raising the alert ‘means that the world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century.’ The WHO said it would ask drug-makers to quickly prepare to produce swine flu vaccines once the production of seasonal flu vaccine ends.

The Southern Hemisphere is currently heading toward winter and the height of its flu season. Northern Hemisphere countries expect to see a swine flu surge when its winter starts later.

Mexico has been worst hit. Its government on Thursday increased the country’s death toll to 109 with 6,294 A(H1N1) infections. The United States comes next. Its health authorities have 27 deaths and 13,217 cases. Novartis received 289 million dollars from the US government for the development of the vaccine.

Australia, the worst hit in the Asia-Pacific region, was considering raising its national flu alert and adopting powers to cancel sports events, restrict travel and even shut national borders, although officials stressed extreme measures are unlikely.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Australia had prepared well but faced problems because of the number of people who travel abroad. The country currently has 1,307 confirmed cases including four in intensive care.

‘Let’s look at the fact that Australia is a highly mobile population and a lot of Australians travel internationally and as a result we’ve got some challenges to deal with,’ Rudd told the Seven Network.

In Hong Kong, which was hit hard by the 2003 SARS outbreak, authorities closed all primary schools after a group of children became the Chinese city’s first ‘cluster’ of cases.

The New Zealand government warned that more than one million people in the country could be infected over two years. But Health Minister Tony Ryall said there was no cause for immediate alarm.

Canada is investigating possible swine flu outbreaks in aboriginal communities. Additional health staff and protective garments have been sent to several communities, where an investigation is underway to determine how the virus reached the remote centers.

‘This is a concern, and we are investigating,’ Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq told a press conference.

This week, WHO acting assistant director-general Keiji Fukuda raised concerns over ‘a disproportionate number of serious cases’ occurring in Canada’s aboriginal communities.

Morocco on Friday became the second African nation to report a case.

Britain is Europe’s worst hit country with 822 recorded cases, but the total has risen significantly in recent days.

In Spain, where there are 488 confirmed cases, Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez called for calm after WHO raised its alert saying that the symptoms were ‘slight’ and the flu could be easily treated.

‘It is true we must remain attentive because you never know what will happen in the future,’ she said. ‘We must be calm and get on with our lives as normal.’France said it was not changing its alert level. — AFP