NC Healthcare Coverage Blog

Many volunteers will be rolling up their sleeves soon to get the swine flu shot so it can be tested to see if it will really protect against this new virus before it comes back strong this fall. The government health researchers and vaccine makers are looking for volunteers from every age to participate so they can prepare for the fall, which is expected to bring a new surge of cases. It is important to test all ages, because this new flu seems to prey on school-age children, teenagers and young adults. The regular flu is more dangerous for those over 65 and under 2.

On July 22, the National Institutes of Health contacted medical centers in the U.S. to start a series of studies. The first shots will be for healthy adults. If there are no instantaneous health concerns, like allergic reactions, testing will begin on children as young as 6 months. One of the chosen places for the research is Duke University Medical Center in Durham.

The government will be using the tests and vaccine manufacturer’s research to help it decide if the swine flu vaccine should be given to millions of Americans beginning in mid-October. Hopefully there will be enough produced by then. That is still not certain because the vaccine is getting harder to manufacture.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says he’s afraid that it is going to be extremely close. Dr. Karen Kotloff of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, is helping to pilot the NIH study. She said “we are racing to provide them as much information as we possibly can.”

The fall will probably be a very perplexing time as doctors try to give the vaccine for the winter flu and inform patients to be patient and wait and see if they can return for their swine flu shots.

The new swine flu strain comes form the H1N1 influenza viruses, but because it is a distinct H1N1 strain, scientists fear that it might be more difficult for the vaccine to provide the right protection.

The plan for the test is for all the volunteers to get 2 swine flu shots, which will be given 21 days apart. In early September, blood tests will hopefully reveal how much immune protection the first dose provided and if a low-dose shot worked or a higher dose is needed. Then another month will be needed to retrieve information on the second shot.