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The Indian government denies that the country has ‘missed the bus’ in the ongoing global trial of H1N1 flu vaccine, while announcing that one company has positively responded to its proposal for conducting human trials on Indians for ‘bridge study’ so that the vaccine could be made available in the country sometime between December 2009- February 2010
With over 100 deaths and 3,987 laboratory-confirmed H1N1-positive cases, India has registered a mortality rate of 2.3% -- much above the 0.9% mortality rate of the rest of the world. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as on August 21, there have been 1,799 deaths and a total of 182,000 laboratory-confirmed cases across the world. “The 2.3% mortality rate is higher compared to the rest of the world, but we are the only country which is looking at laboratory-confirmed cases as positive. Other countries are not testing and have included people with flu-like symptoms as positive,” said Dr S K Srivastava, Director General of Health Services. Meanwhile, Director General of the Indian Medical Association and Secretary Health Research V M Katoch has written to four international companies that have production capacity for the vaccine to include Indians in ongoing human trials to test the ‘safety and efficacy’ of the H1N1 flu vaccine. One of the companies, Glaxo-Smith-Kline (GSK), has responded positively saying that it is ready to conduct trials on Indians provided India tells it how much of the vaccine it will be procuring from the company. Initially, the H1N1 flu vaccine will be used for people handling samples, testing and transportation which, in view of the Indian population, works out to several lakhs, Srivastava said, adding that if GSK agreed to India’s proposal and started a ‘bridge study’ on Indians, an H1H1 vaccine could be made available between December 2009 and February 2010. Indigenous vaccines being worked on by four Indian companies are also likely to be available between March and June when the next phase of the H1N1 flu pandemic is likely to occur. These can be made available to high-risk groups like pregnant women, children, the elderly and those with co-morbid conditions like diabetes, heart ailments, lung disease and neurological problems. Srivastava said human trials on Indians were necessary before the vaccine was made available in the country as there was the possibility of side-effects. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation estimates that over 2 billion people will be affected by the virus within two years. Earlier this week, a White House panel said 90,000 deaths are likely due to the H1N1 virus in the US. India’s health ministry is trying to generate its own data to help the government estimate the funds required to control the disease in the country. At present, India is in eighth position as far as the number of swine flu deaths is concerned. Brazil tops the list of countries reporting fatalities from the H1N1 virus, with 584 deaths. The mortality rate in Brazil is 0.29%. However, if one takes into consideration the 5,206 laboratory-confirmed cases, the mortality rate is 10% -- much higher than India’s. Brazil is followed by the US with 525 deaths, Argentina with 439, and Mexico with 179 deaths, according to the WHO. Source: Press Trust of India, September 2-3, 2009
The Indian Express, September 1-2, 2009
Sakaal Times, September 2, 2009
http://www.breakingnewsonline.net September, 2009
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