Human testing of locally developed flu vaccine to begin soon

2012/03/09 16:29:38   Taipei, March 9 (CNA) Human testing of domestically developed vaccine against the H5N1 avian flu virus is expected to begin next month at the earliest, an executive of Adimmune Corp., a local vaccine manufacturer, said Friday.   If launched in April, clinical trial of the H5N1 vaccine is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2013, which will allow Taiwan to confront the deadly virus should an outbreak occur, Adimmune CEO Chang Chin-chuan said.   Animal testing of the H5N1 vaccine was completed late last year, he said.   

Taiwan is classed as H5N1-free.   Once human testing is completed, the H5N1 vaccine is expected to be offered to all members of the Taiwan public aged over 3, Chang said.   According to the Centers for Disease Control, Taiwan has since 2003 imported H5N1 vaccine from abroad as a preventive measure. There are 100,000 doses in inventory at present. The vaccines are available for medical personnel, disease prevention workers and people in the poultry farming sector.   A total of 589 cases of humans contracting the H5N1 virus have been confirmed worldwide since 2003, 348 of which have been fatal, representing a mortality rate of nearly 60 percent. Of the cases, 185 occurred in Indonesia, 163 in Egypt and 121 in Vietnam, according to the World Health Organization.   Meanwhile, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), H5N1 infection has been rising worldwide this winter, with the number of cases nearly doubling in February over the figure reported in January.   So far this year, 51 cases have been reported in nine countries and areas, including Hong Kong, Vietnam, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Australia and South Africa, in that order, according to the OIE.