European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 7, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Be Caish Tho a Rahnn a but to Simitar to one that throughout the world in the Carty people Afave in to to year Are expected to have to least Tome natural immunity to the virus. Health authorise say other susceptible individuals the elderly and those with chronic finesse should Slid gel this year s regular a Sedna. Evwin though vow outwit flu season is barely under Way authorities already Are considering the makeup of next year s vaccine and whether this year s vaccine will be sufficient next Winter. The scurrying Hasty decisions and numerous International conferences and pure Luck thai go into deciding the makeup of this year s flu vaccines Are part it a strategy developed Over the past 38 years. When the world health organization organized a global surveillance network to Analyse influenza strains assess Trie risk and develop a vaccine to combat them. Kendal and other flu experts say the International watchdog system is the Best Way of making an educated guess on which flu strains will cause most of the misery each Winter. One indication of its Success is the fact that while influenza continues to infect millions and kill thousands each year ii has been a half Century since the world has suffered the once common kind of sudden uncontrolled outbreaks such As the Spanish flu pandemic thai killed 20 million people in 1918-1919. Determining which flu Strain will predominate in any Given Winter is like an International detective Story. The Story starts with the influenza virus Tisall a wily adversary about four millionths of an Inch in diameter that is continually changing its genetic makeup year after year thwarting the natural immunity acquired by the previous year s victims. Even when a vaccine is developed in time to fight a new Strain it May be Only 70 percent to 90 percent effective. New variations in the Sims May appear in the Middle of a flu season when it is too late to guard against them. Fri virus Alto Are extremely Mobile. Ii takes just three Days for an infected person to develop symptoms and pass the virus to someone else usually in moist droplets released by sneezing and coughing. Adults remain contagious Tor a week children up to two weeks in a single season the virus can Circle the Globe. The viruses hop rides on airlines where one infected person can spread the virus to other passengers says cute meals. Researchers also believe that migrating Birds play a the opening shot in this year s flu Battle was actually fired last Winter when International health officials around the world collected thousands of virus samples from influenza victims in their areas. The samples were injected into fertilized eggs or test lube tissue cultures which enabled the viruses to reproduce. After making crude identifications of the viruses regional and National laboratories shipped the most common Wains to one of tote two who certified Scotland Yards of world influenza research the Center for disease control in Atlanta w the virus reference Laboratory in London. There More precise tests categorized the strains As types a 8 or c. Each Type was broken Down into subtypes and strains by mid february researchers in Atlanta and London had identified hundreds of Active flu strains most of them closely related. A week later we Mallona flu officials met at who Headquarters in Geneva to decide which strains warn the most persist and cause outbreaks his by season. And which should be incorporated in a new vaccine. Baud on lab tests and reports of Early flu outbreaks around the world two new strains b Ann Arbor and a Mississippi and a 3-year-old Strain known As a Chile were selected As the most Likely candidates. A few Days after the Geneva conference three . Pharmaceutical firms geared up for production of a Irlvy Flefil vaccine that would provide Protection against the three strains. We thought we were set says Kendal. But then the elusive wily flu virus fired a shot of its own. We got a Call Here in april from the who. Saying that a new influenza virus had been identified in Southeast Asia and that it might pose a threat around the says Kendal. By my wow i Timthy 11� in Atlanta and London showed thai the a Taiwan virus was quits offer in from the viruses that had been emulating them dam pm Hytt a gun daring vow Cwon Fttie wan to few. Legacy of an epidemic that never was by Charles Seabrook Cox news services n a cavernous warehouse in suburban Atlanta. 47.2 million doses of unused Swine flu vaccine stand in cold storage the legacy of the epidemic that Neve was and testimonial to the unpredictability of one of Mankind s most persistent microscopic enemies. In Glass vials and 5-Gaffon jugs the government owned vaccine stacked in a commercial warehouse in Chamblee gs., along with pasteurized cheese and Burrito shells wails As it has for a decade for the decision that will enable the government to destroy it. The $11.5 million Worth of vaccine is the last remnant of he Swine flu scare in 1976 that spawned a massive but mistaken government Effort to vaccinate every Man woman and child against what was thought to be an epidemic of influenza spurred by handful of cases of Swine flu among a few army recruits at fort Dix n.j., and advice from the National centers Lor disease control and other Federal health agencies Congress appropriated $135 million in 1973 to Cany out the nationwide vaccination program. More than 46.1 million americans received Swine flu shots before the sudden appearance of a rare paralysing disorder known As Guibani Barre syndrome among some of those vaccinated prompted a halt to . A total of 4,733 Swine flu vaccine recipients have since come Down with the disorder and 223 of them have died. So far Legal settlements stemming from the Swine flu fiasco have Cost the government $85 million. An estimated 48 million doses $14 million Worth of the vaccine were destroyed in 1981. But Dick Bruce a cd Public health adviser says the continuing threat of Legal entanglement is one reason the remaining vaccine has not been destroyed. Storage costs the government $26,000 a year. The Cost of storing the vaccine is another reason we Are making plans to get rid of it says Bruce even if by some Remote Chance it could be useful again no one probably would Wen it because of perceptions about its safely although Mot it Tow a adm had an expiration Dale of August 1977, tests conducted by the . Food and drug administration three years ago showed that the remaining vaccine was still viable. Although the Swine flu affair gave the cd Ita worst Black Eye in its 40-year history Many authorities say the decision to proceed with a nationwide vaccination program was based on available information the Correct decision. It la a decision however that has had at least one lingering effect Al the cd it has helped make researchers More cautious in their predictions about each season s influenza outbreak Globe in recent years. But it was very similar to those that circulated 35 years ago. We were constantly on the phone talking to authorities in London in Geneva in Japan Hying to assess 1he nature and importance of this virus says Kendal. It probably originated in Mainland China in Flatry on Juty 21. The cd s International sleuthing and research culminated in a meeting with the Fra s vaccine advisory committee in Bethesda my the panel Rotor amended that production of a Vacc Fie beg to immediately. It was an unusual Clfon. Ordinarily it takes at least 10 months to develop and distribute a f u vaccine. Normally when a new flu Strain makes its first appearance in Spring or summer the beet that near tit officials can do is woes their fingers and Hope that it does not Caute major problems the following Winter. But ills year the hew virus was identified Caus Fried and categorized by Early june and fortunately it proved to be a Good Stock for making a vaccine in Miny cases researchers have to do Bine consuming probing to develop a train that can be grown easily in culture and to tue Abl Lor producing a vaccine. Hours Attar the Fra Aulhorn a production at a Taiwan vaccine Driver tort the headquarter of com aught lateral ories inc. In the Pocono mountains of Eastern Pennsylvania bound or Fra Headquarters in Bethesda. That night he picked up a cooler containing two Frozen vials of a Taiwan seed virus and headed Back to to Stoving morning technicians at he company one of three flu vaccine manufacture a thawed he samples and activated an automated conveyor Ted process in which tens of thousands of fertilized eggs were inoculated with the microbes to grow trillions of a Taiwan viruses. Similar Steps were under Way at the nation two other major flu vaccine maker9 Parka Davis and Wyeth laboratories. In Early november the first doses of a Taiwan vaccine were loaded on trucks and carried to Atlanta los Angeles and other distribution Points in the nation. To waa All routine except that we did it much More quickly than usual says Connaught spokeswoman Beth Waters Rytti Stupi rata Fly authorities the major remaining tack to getting the new vaccine into the arms of people Whone Edil at the cd and the world health cog Anition s Headquarters in Geneva the International Fluture wince network already his turned to attention to next Yew. The stars and Smipes Pip 10
