Australian-made vaccine will protect against bird flu

An Australian-made vaccine which now has approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) could be used in the event of a bird flu pandemic.

The new vaccine, Panvax, will offer protection to people against avian flu but can only be used once a pandemic is officially declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon says the new vaccine, developed over three years by biopharmaceutical company CSL, can now be manufactured to respond to any new strain of the H5N1 virus.

More than $7 million of government money has gone into Panvax's development and trials; the vaccine can be adjusted in a similar way that flu vaccines are changed throughout the year to combat new strains but can be manufactured within weeks of a new strain being identified - the safety of the vaccine had been assessed for adults aged 18-64 and those aged over 65.

As new approvals would not be needed for each new manufacture of the vaccine to be used against a different strain Ms Roxon says it will, along with the 1.2 million doses of vaccine already in stock, provide Australians with more security and protection.

Ms Roxon says the trigger will be the identification by the WHO of human-to-human transmission, then the vaccine will be rolled out to keep the virus offshore for as long as possible.

Ms Roxon says frontline health workers would receive the vaccine first; chief medical officer John Hovarth says Australia has a major flu plan which focuses on vaccines, anti-virals and protective equipment and none can be taken in isolation.

The plan is however being revised and a new plan will be ready by the end of the year.