Flu ( incl Swine, Bird etc ) 01 (Apr 09 - Sep 12)

[iam802]

H1N1 (Swine Flu) Influenza Vaccine Market Worth US$ 7,028 Million By 2011

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/press-rele ... llion-2011

The global H1N1 2009 Influenza vaccine market is estimated to be $7,028 billion by 2011, growing at a CAGR of 222.4 % from 2009 to 2011. Some of the key players in this market are GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, CSL, MedImmune, Sanofi-Pasteur, Solvay, Sinovac Biotech and Hualun Biologicals.

.....
(802: Rest of article tries to sell you the report)

[kennynah]

i see 2 conflicting figures...one in "million" and the other in "billion".....i guess, "billion" should be the right estimation?

[iam802]

Should be Billion.

I read the article on the web site, billion is mention inside the article, but million is on the headline only.

So, most likely a typo.

[winston]

How long will the H1N1 flu pandemic be with us?

That depends on your definition of "pandemic."

Reuters Health reports that it might take "years" for WHO officials to downgrade the H1N1 pandemic to a seasonal-like virus.

Actually, they could downgrade the pandemic today. Easy as pie. All they'd have to do is restore their earlier definition of "pandemic."

Last week, in "Maximum Protection

" (10/12/09), I told you how WHO officials altered the definition of "pandemic." They simply removed the criteria that "enormous numbers of deaths and illness" must occur.

Presto! Instant pandemic! And let the fear mongering begin!

So you've got to wonder: Why don't Reuters Health editors know about it?

Well...they don't APPEAR to know about it.

Meanwhile, Reuters notes that flu infections in the southern hemisphere have dropped off with the end of the winter season. Chile. Argentina. New Zealand. South Africa. Australia. What's missing in all these countries? Enormous numbers of deaths and illness.

One thing is certain: A small handful of drug companies are going to sell many millions of H1N1 vaccine units over the next few months. No economic slowdown for them.

Source: HSI

[iam802]

Article mentions that it takes 6 to 9 mths to produce the vaccines.

Demand outweighs supply. And production lags behind demand.
=====

Demand for Swine Flu Vaccine Rises Amid U.S. Shortage (Update2)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... n.OeXdy4os

Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The swine flu vaccine shortage is boosting demand from Americans concerned they won’t get the product in time to hold off the disease, said Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The amount available to doctors and clinics starting this week will have risen to 22.4 million doses from about 14 million on Oct. 21, Frieden said today. The supply is still smaller than needed, he said. A U.S. health official has blamed the shortage on production delays at two drugmakers, and one manufacturer’s failure to gain regulatory approval for its product.

President Barack Obama declared swine flu a national emergency Oct. 24. The disease, also known as H1N1 influenza, is widespread across the country and accounts for 411 confirmed deaths and more than 8,200 hospitalizations since Aug. 30, according to the Atlanta-based CDC. Frieden didn’t update the numbers of infected during today’s call.

“We are currently in a situation where we have too little vaccine in the community,” Frieden said during a conference call with reporters. “It’s quite likely that too little vaccine is one of the things that’s making people more interested in getting vaccinated.”

Health officials said last week the U.S. won’t get the 195 million doses it had planned for by the end of the year. Americans may get 42 million doses by mid-November, 8 million less than earlier U.S. estimates, said Nicole Lurie, Health and Human Services assistant secretary for preparedness and response, in an Oct. 23 telephone interview. Lurie linked the shortage to production delays.

Greater Demand

“When we have shortages we see an increase in demand,” Frieden said today. “In the next week or so, there will be a significant increase in the perceived and real availability of vaccine.”

Frieden said medical authorities still recommend the vaccine be given first to people most at risk of severe infection from swine flu.

Children and young adults ages 6 months to 24 years, pregnant women, those with underlying medical conditions and health-care workers are most at risk according to the CDC. ‘Many millions’ of H1N1 cases have occurred in the U.S. since the outbreak began in April, he said Oct. 23.

“We wish we had better technology that could produce vaccine in weeks or months, rather than the six to nine months it takes with current, tried-and-true technology,” Frieden said. “It’s challenging with a limited amount of vaccine for a lot of people who want to get vaccinated.”

Similar Symptoms

While H1N1 produces similar symptoms and outcomes as seasonal flu in most cases, it targets a younger population and can lead to severe illness and death. The seasonal flu kills about 36,000 people a year in the U.S., though the majority of those deaths are in people over the age of 80.

Ninety-five children have died from confirmed swine flu since April 2009, more than the pediatric toll for a typical year of influenza, the CDC said on its Web site, which tracks deaths from 28 states that provide data.

[kennynah]

like u, i take my chances on the selected vaccine producing company.... the recent weakness...we tahan a bit ok....

[winston]

U.S. may end up discarding unused H1N1 vaccine

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government may end up throwing away unused doses of swine flu vaccine if people cannot get it soon enough, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNe ... health1100

[winston]

Up to 5.7m US H1N1 flu cases in four months: study

WASHINGTON - Up to 5.7 million people in the United States may have been infected with the H1N1 flu in the first four months of the outbreak, or more than 100 times the number of laboratory-confirmed cases that were reported, a study said Thursday.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 94/1/.html

[helios]

Still don't think that H1N1 will be "big" ... ...

[iam802]

http://tvnz.co.nz/health-news/h1n1-flu- ... an-3127682

H1N1 swine flu is on the rise in China and Japan after triggering an unusually early start to the winter influenza season in Europe, Central Asia and North America, the World Health Organisation said.

According to the UN agency's latest official toll, which is thought to underestimate the total spread of the virus, at least 6,071 people worldwide have died as a result of an H1N1 infection since its discovery earlier this year in Mexico and the United States.

Some 359 deaths were recorded in the past week, which saw a big outbreak in Ukraine as well as ongoing spread of the virus across the northern hemisphere.

"Intense and persistent influenza transmission continues to be reported in North America without evidence of a peak in activity," the WHO said in its latest update.

"In China, after an earlier wave of mixed influenza activity (seasonal H3N2 and pandemic H1N1), pandemic H1N1 influenza activity now predominates and is increasing."

Sharp increases in pandemic flu infections continue to be reported throughout Japan, particularly on the northern island.

China is among more than 20 countries to have launched mass immunisation campaigns against the virus.

Most serious illness and deaths have occurred in patients younger than 65, and pregnant women and people with chronic health problems are at high risk.

The WHO's top flu expert Keiji Fukuda said on Thursday that pandemic vaccines given to millions of people had proved to be very safe, providing protection with no unusual side effects.

GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi-Aventis are among some 25 companies producing pandemic vaccine and other drugmakers including Switzerland's Roche Holding are making antivirals for use as a frontline H1N1 drug.

Some pigs, turkeys and household pets have become infected with the H1N1 flu, but the pandemic virus does not yet appear to be spreading quickly among animals, the WHO said.