By Stephanie Desmon & kelly brewington , stephanie.desmon@baltsun.com and kelly.brewington@baltsun.com|May 01, 2009
Federal health authorities, busily assessing the scope of the swine flu outbreak, are preparing in case a vaccine is needed to stem the spread of the disease that has sickened more than 100 in the United States and killed a 22-month-old boy in Texas.
The development of a vaccine is a long, painstaking, fairly crude process that typically involves growing the virus in millions of chicken eggs. It would be months before the first person could be inoculated. Still, scientists with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working with vaccine makers to begin the process and in coming weeks make the call: Should vaccine production be ramped up in time for the traditional flu season this fall? If it's not, will people be at risk for a deadlier version of the virus that could hit once the weather gets cold again?
Then, there is the question of who gets the vaccine, Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC, said Thursday.
"Who are the risk groups who are at greatest risk for having bad outcomes from the flu?" he said. "It's less of a science decision than a societal decision. We would not be able to have vaccine for 300 million people."
Seasonal flu vaccines, which many Americans get annually, are not effective against the swine flu, which is made up of genes from porcine, avian and human influenza.
The swine flu outbreak began in Mexico where it has killed more than 150 people, sickened thousands there and has been confirmed in a dozen other countries. Six likely cases in Maryland still have not been confirmed by the CDC, and state officials said Thursday that there were two more probable cases - one in Baltimore County and one in Montgomery County - being sent to the CDC for testing. In Delaware, there are four confirmed cases at the University of Delaware. There are two probable cases in Virginia.
Vice President Joe Biden stirred concern by saying in an NBC interview that he would discourage family members from flying or even taking the subway.
The White House insisted Biden meant to say he was discouraging nonessential travel to Mexico, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was compelled to state flatly: "It is safe to fly. There is no reason to cancel flights."
Behind the scenes, top health officials - from CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health - have been in constant contact over the vaccine question. They would all play roles in not just developing a swine flu vaccine, but in determining whether the new products are safe enough to be given to humans.
