Indonesia confirms two more bird flu deaths

Jakarta (VNA) - The Indonesian Health Ministry on August 13 confirmed the deaths of a woman and her daughter in Bali as a results of bird flu, bringing the country's total death toll from the disease to 83.

These were the first human deaths from bird flu on the resort island, where the H5N1 virus was identified more than a year ago.

The 29-year-old woman died on August 12 and her five-year-old daughter on August 3, Bayu Krisnamurti, head of the national commission for bird flu, said.

Laboratory tests provided by the Eikman Institute and the Health Ministry confirmed the presence of H5N1 in both cases, Bayu told reporters.

Baxter says trial on new flu shot promising

Baxter International Inc., working to modernize the production of influenza vaccines, this morning said its seasonal flu product is showing "strong antibody responses and good tolerability" in an early stage clinical trial in humans.

Although Baxter is still several years from winning approval of the product, the study shows Baxter's reformulated seasonal flu vaccine is tolerable. In late 2004, Baxter had to suspend final-stage human sudy of its seasonal flu vaccine because it was causing fevers in some patients.

The Deerfield-based medical product giant is trying to develop a flu vaccine produced with cell tissues, which is a method that would allow manufacturers to quickly brew vaccine by the vat and likely eliminate shortages like the one that rattle U.S. consumers and health-care providers from time to time.
The cell-based approach is a sharp contrast to the tedious, 1940s method still used today that involves hand-processing millions of chicken eggs in labs. For each dosers shine a light through the shell of an egg to find the fluid surrounding an embryo, inject a strain of the flu virus and let it incubate for several months.

The current method is a long months-long process fraught with risk, while cell-based vaccines are more consistent and could be produced in as little as nine to 12 weeks.

In the latest clinical trial, Baxter said more than 900 patients were studied. Baxter said the preliminary data show its cell-based seasonal influenza vaccine's "tolerability profile" to be similar to egg-based seasonal flu vaccines on the market. There were, however, some side effects that included headaches and some injection site reactions, Baxter said.

Baxter is building momentum for its vaccines business. The company is also in the final stages of testing for a vaccine against strains of the Avian influenza, also known as the bird flu and is working with governments around the world interested in stockpiling the product in the event of a pandemic outbreak. Chicago Tribune

TOKYO: GlaxoSmithKline PLC is ready to work with Japanese pharmaceutical companies if the Japanese government agrees to stockpile the company's pre-pandemic vaccine for bird flu, the head of the company's vaccine business said Wednesday.

"We are in contact with all the local vaccine manufacturers" and the Japanese government to discuss the need to prepare for a possible bird flu outbreak among humans, said Jean Stephenne, president of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals at a news conference in Tokyo.

Britain-based GlaxoSmithKline is one of the world's largest makers of vaccines and is calling on governments to stockpile pre-pandemic influenza vaccine to deal with outbreaks in their early stages.

If a bird flu pandemic hits, Japanese companies could manufacture vaccines using GlaxoSmithKline technology, while its adjuvant system could be applied to existing vaccines.

GlaxoSmithKline's adjuvant system can reduce the dosage from a vaccine for protection and assists in providing protection against similar strains of a virus, improving the chances of controlling mutated versions of the H5N1 bird flu virus, according to Stephenne.

Japan's vaccine market is tightly closed, and major vaccine makers are government-affiliated organizations that don't have very strong funding or research capabilities.

Japan's vaccine development guidelines also differ from those of other major markets and the World Health Organization, making it difficult to import vaccines made overseas. (The Associated Press)

Veterinarians Could Be First to Get Bird Flu

MONDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- Because veterinarians who work with birds are at increased risk of infection with bird flu viruses, they should be included on lists of people with priority access to pandemic flu vaccines and antiviral drugs, U.S. researchers say.

A team at the University of Iowa College of Public Health analyzed blood samples from a group of American veterinarians who worked with chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese or quail.

They found that their blood had increased levels of antibodies against the H5, H6 and H7 avian influenza viruses. These increased levels indicated that the veterinarians had previously been infected by these viruses.

These mild forms of bird flu occasionally circulate among wild and domestic birds in the United States. But experts fear that the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus that emerged in Asia may mutate into a form that's easily transmitted between humans and trigger a global pandemic.

"Veterinarians and others with frequent and close contact to infected birds may be among the first to be infected with a pandemic strain of influenza," study author Kendall Myers, a doctoral student in occupational and environmental health, said in a prepared statement.

"They have the potential to spread the illness to their families and communities. Because of this, we suggest that veterinarians should be considered for inclusion on priority access lists for pandemic influenza vaccines and antivirals," Myers said.

The study is published in the July 1 issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Bird flu kills 5-year-old Indonesian girl

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A 5-year-old Indonesian girl from Central Java province has died of bird flu, a health ministry official said on Wednesday.

The girl from Wonogiri died last Thursday after being hospitalized on May 17 suffering from fever and respiratory problems, said Suharda Ningrum of the ministry’s bird flu center.

Authorities were still investigating the case, but at least 20 chickens had died suddenly near her home, the official said.

In Vietnam, a man infected with bird flu has been admitted to a hospital in Hanoi, becoming the first confirmed human case since November 2005, the state-run Tien Phong newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Tests confirmed the 30-year-old man was infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus. The man comes from Vinh Phuc province near the capital, the newspaper said.

Officials and doctors at the Hanoi hospital could not be reached for comment. (Reuters)