London:
There are fears that swine flu may return with a bang. Britain is reporting a surge in the number of cases after weeks of some respite.
This has made the race for the swine flu vaccine even more desperate. Approval for its use could be just days away. Rich countries like the UK have already cornered most of the first supplies of the vaccine.
After a lull, there is a rise in the number of new swine flu cases in the US, Britain and Asia. There have been 5000 new cases in the last week in the UK, compared to 3000 the week before that.
The fears have made the need for the SF vaccine even more urgent in the UK. The Health Department says they are tantalisingly close to getting the greenlight from the licencing authority i.e. European medicines Agency. The UK has already placed an order for 132 million doses, enough to vaccinate the entire population.
"We didn't expect to get a vaccine as early as this. We are very close to being able to use a vaccine. Awaiting approval from the licencing bodies. We'll start vaccinating people who are at higher risk than others," said Prof Sir Liam Donaldson, chief medical officer, Britain.
Most of the vaccine is being produced by European companies, and richer nations like the US and Britain have already cornered the bulk of the first supplies.
"While the trials that took place with the H5N1 virus suggested that you would need two doses. It was difficult to get enough of a response in the immune system to protect people but the early trials with the GSK vaccine shown that one dose is giving a very good response. It's early to say whether we can move from two doses to one but we're optimistic," said Prof Donaldson.
If, as early evidence suggests, one and not two doses are enough to keep swine flu away, then Britain would have several million left over, which it is considering donating to poorer countries.