Healthy Style Living

Blogging on how to stay healthy, slim and beautiful.

Search

// you’re reading...

This information is not presented by a medical practitioner and is for educational and informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read. ( skip to article )

Production and Availability of H1N1 Vaccines

By ebazaar ⋅ November 21, 2009 ⋅

Email This Post ⋅

Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Pandemic Influenza vaccines are perhaps the most effective way of curbing H1N1 and Influenza A problem aside from practicing healthy and risk-free lifestyle.

The vaccines are said to be able to boost immunity system against H1N1 and help ensure public health as the pandemic evolves. But you didn’t hear it wrong. Rumors about vaccine for pandemic influenza A or H1N1 is having shortage in supply due to overwhelming of demands around the world is alas true. The World Health Organization had estimated only about 3 billion doses of pandemic vaccines to be produced for worldwide usage in one year, and that is only as if all available capacity is devoted to pandemic vaccine. There goes an average of 250 million doses available on the world market to protect about 6.798 billion of the worldwide population. This perhaps is only rational since the pandemic is a new type of virus and virtually everyone is vulnerable on contracting it especially by those under the H1N1 risk groups.

Supposedly, these vaccines are supplied everywhere in the world where the virus is rapidly spreading, and a number of regulatory bodies and authorities have licensed the pandemic vaccines to be used in few countries. However, there might be some slight difference in terms of time frame where some countries may get it faster than others. This is due to the respective countries’ regulatory pathway, the type of vaccines under licensed and the stage of the manufacturer’s readiness to submit appropriate information to regulatory authorities.

Most of the vaccines are produced using chicken eggs as most flu vaccines are derived from chicken eggs. Other means is by using cell culture technology for vaccine production. By using this system, viruses are cultivated in closed systems such as bioreactors containing a lot of cells in growth media rather than eggs and later the virus is killed and then broken up. The vaccine shot will only contain certain parts of the virus to counter the live virus in the body of the infected person.

Do not mistaken pandemic influenza vaccine for seasonal influenza vaccine since they are both different and do not cater the problems associated with one another. Seasonal influenza shot do not guarantee you any protection against H1N1 but you should be getting it on yearly basis anyway. Plus, there’s no harm in getting both shot at the same time and both seasonal influenza and pandemic influenza vaccines can be administered together.

Subscribe to updates