In the race to produce a vaccine against (A) H1N1, Novartis AG has just won first place. A day after the World Health Organization (WHO)’s upgrade of the swine flu outbreak status into a pandemic, the company announced that it produced the first batch of vaccines against the virus.
Unfortunately, the vaccine would not be available for public use until about September. Clinical trials to ascertain effectiveness and side effects would have to be done before distribution to begin.
In the meantime, people are advised to follow the cliche old rule of frequent hand washing and not touching the face. They could also opt to take the ordinary flu vaccine, which btw protects against the deadlier flu viruses, otherwise known as ordinary flu.
Disclaimer: The swine flu virus as well as other “ordinary” flu viruses could still mutate to become deadlier strains. What should be noted, however, is that the swine flu is considered to be “more dangerous” despite the lower numbers of infections is that it kills otherwise normal and healthy individuals. Nevertheless, other flu viruses could also mutate to achieve this type of severity.
Sources:
1. First batch of swine flu vaccine produced
2. WHO: Full Pandemic Flu Vaccine Production To Start In 2 Weeks
3. WHO: Swine flu pandemic has begun, 1st in 41 years
