Fed: Swine flu vaccine may be out early, says Roxon

AAP General News (Australia)
08-05-2009
Fed: Swine flu vaccine may be out early, says Roxon

By Jon Pierik

MELBOURNE, Aug 5 AAP - The federal government would be keen for a quicker than expected
rollout of a swine flu vaccine if early test results are favourable, Federal Health Minister
Nicola Roxon says.

The vaccine is being trialled at the Royal Adelaide Hospital on 240 healthy adults,
with participants receiving two doses of the vaccine three weeks apart.

Blood tests will measure the immune system's response.

Ms Roxon says she hopes the results will be available within weeks.

"We are working very closely, of course, on the plans for the rollout of the vaccine
as soon as that becomes available," she said on Wednesday.

"We'll be looking at any early test results that come back from the trials to see if
it's possible to make a decision to provide the vaccine at an earlier date.

"I have made it quite clear that if the early results are positive, and we can be confident
the vaccine is safe, that we would make such a decision."

A trial of the vaccine on 400 children is expected to begin in all capital cities this month.

Ms Roxon said that to date nationally there had been 74 deaths of people who had tested
positive to the Influenza A(H1N1) virus.

She said the median age of those who had died was 51, compared to 83 for those who
had "regular seasonal influenza".

There are 409 people in hospital across Australia with the virus, including 121 in
intensive care.

Ms Roxon said the latest figures also showed 80 per cent of all flu cases reported
had symptoms of the swine virus - up from between 70 to 76 per cent.

"It's clear to us that this flu is the dominant flu this season," she said.

"To date, we do feel confident that our mitigating efforts are having some impact but
we know that we have a number of weeks still to go where this is likely to put more pressure
on many hospitals and still continue to peak for some time."

Ms Roxon could not rule out the number of cases rising even as the peak winter season
draws to a close.

"It's still important for us to remain vigilant," she said.

"We are not through the flu season yet. We have seen overseas the cases have continued
beyond the flu season."

AAP jfp/pmu/jnb/cdh

KEYWORD: FLU ROXON WRAP

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