Word: flu
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...Flu Flaws How could such a drastic shortage of vaccine occur? Because the system that makes it is prone to failure...
Ultimately, however, the only way to make flu-vaccine supplies more reliable may be to get rid of the chicken eggs. Several companies are studying methods of growing the virus in mammalian-cell cultures, and at least one biotech company is experimenting with using genetic-engineering techniques to streamline the process even further. But this kind of research takes a lot of resources and may lead to vaccines that are even more expensive to produce. In any event, the newer production techniques probably wouldn't be available for at least a decade...
...meantime, some local health authorities are setting up lotteries to distribute their allotments of flu vaccine. Mary- land's Montgomery County, taking advantage of a hotline established after the 2001 anthrax attacks, started taking names on the telephone and over the Internet and the first day registered 14,000 residents for its 800 shots...
...already time to start planning for the 2005-06 flu season, and it's still unclear whether the U.S. will be in any better shape next year. Chiron says it isn't sure its production problems will be resolved by then, and no other drugmaker has stepped forward to take up the slack. One thing is certain: if nothing changes, we'll have flu vaccine shortages for years to come. --Reported by Perry Bacon Jr. and Elaine Shannon/Washington, Matthew Cooper/ with Bush, Paige Bowers/Atlanta, Simon Crittle and Sora Song/New York, Helen Gibson/London, Chris Maag/Cleveland, Ursula Sautter/Bonn and Monique Stringfellow/Paris
...last lap of campaign 2004, the days get long and the candidates hoarse, and every night is Halloween. By last week the Republicans were all but declaring that your children will die a gruesome death if John Kerry wins, and Kerry was warning that if you catch the flu, it's because George W. Bush screwed up your shot. Vice President Dick Cheney talked about the greater likelihood of a mushroom cloud over a U.S. city if Kerry is elected, inspiring the Boston Herald headline VOTE KERRY, GET NUKED, VEEP WARNS. Cheney's rival, John Edwards--who had suggested that...