Word: flu
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...vaccine may also prove easier to develop since all it requires is an accurate genetic sequence of three critical virus genes. That could especially help with swine flu, since researchers found back in the 1970s that the virus doesn't grow well in chicken eggs; that could slash the yield and slow production of a potential new vaccine. "As long as we get the genetic sequence of some viral proteins, it doesn't matter where the virus came from - human, swine or bird," says Singhvi. So far, Novavax's shot is still in the testing phase, but its VLP-based...
...destructive emulsion, however, so the solution could not be injected into the body.) In animal studies, says Dr. James Baker, the company's chairman of the board, the spray protected 90% of mice from a lethal dose of influenza. The company is also testing a combination of the traditional flu vaccine with the emulsion, which, says Baker, provides a 50-times-greater immune response than the vaccine alone, even if using only one-sixth the usual vaccine dose. This technique is still too experimental to be helpful against the current swine flu outbreak, however...
...states have confirmed cases of swine flu, including a death in Texas, but all 50 have already requested their portion of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) of antiviral medications, according to the CDC. (The SNS, maintained jointly by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation's emergency medicine chest, containing critical drugs and medical equipment to be used in a public-health emergency.) Although the stockpiled antiviral drugs can treat existing cases of flu, a vaccine is the only way to protect people who are uninfected and halt further spread...
...only agency that possesses the virus needed to make a vaccine, says it is still "looking very intently" at a swine flu vaccine, but it has not yet given the green light to scale up production. In the event that it does, either in response to the current outbreak or down the road when the next pig-to-people flu causes massive illness, they may have better ways than they did in '76 to battle...
Read "Why Is Swine Flu Deadlier in Mexico...