HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has announced the awarding of a contract to Aventis Pasteur Inc. to manufacture and store 2 million doses of avian influenza H5N1 vaccine, an important initial acquisition to better prepare the nation for an influenza pandemic.
The vaccine that is being made is designed to match the H5N1 influenza virus that has killed 29 people in Thailand and Vietnam this year. If a pandemic of avian influenza virus H5N1 occurred in humans, the new vaccine would be used to protect laboratory workers, public health personnel, and, if needed, the general public.
"This is an important first step toward preparing our nation to respond to a pandemic influenza outbreak," Secretary Thompson said. "The reemergence of the avian flu in Asia this year is another sign that we have to develop and produce vaccines against the threat of a pandemic flu. The United States is the first nation to undertake this preventive measure on this scale."
The amount of the contract is nearly $13 million. The purchase of the new vaccine follows Secretary Thompson's announcement last month of the National Pandemic Influenza Response and Preparedness Plan, which outlines a coordinated national strategy to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic. The draft plan can be found online at http://www.hhs.gov/nvpo/pandemicplan and is a result of years of work by the department.
Influenza is a serious disease that causes significant death and disability in the United States every year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 200,000 cases of influenza require hospitalization and as many as 36,000 people die from influenza or its complications annually.
Influenza pandemics are explosive global events in which most, if not all, persons worldwide are at risk for infection and illness. While rare, the appearance of such a pandemic virus will likely be unaffected by currently available influenza vaccines that are modified each year to match the strains of the virus that are known to be in circulation among humans around the world. Unlike the gradual changes that occur in the influenza viruses that appear each year during flu season, a pandemic influenza virus is one that represents a major, sudden shift in the virus' structure that increases its ability to cause illness in a large proportion of the population. During previous influenza pandemics large numbers of people were ill, sought medical care, were hospitalized and died.