$4.9m shot for bird flu vaccine
The Daily Telegraph -- By Peter Trute -- July 23, 2005
dailytelegraph.news.com.au
A flask holding one of the most virulent strains of influenza has been brought to Australia to fast-track a vaccine amid global fears of a pandemic.
The Federal Government yesterday provided pharmaceutical company CSL with $4.9 million to produce a local vaccine for the human strain of the potentially deadly Asian bird flu virus.
The Government has also begun stockpiling syringes and other medical equipment to prepare the country for any outbreak of disease.
According to World Health Organisation estimates, 2.6 million people would seek medical attention, 58,000 would be hospitalised and 13,000 would die if a flu pandemic hit Australia.
Bird flu has a high mortality rate in infected patients, and can cause severe breathing problems and pneumonia in the worst cases.
The H5N1 strain of the virus is currently circulating in South-East Asia and CSL researchers will be working with a seed strain of the virus, developed in the UK, to create a vaccine for trials later this year.
If the trial is successful the vaccine could be used to immunise the whole population.
On Thursday, Indonesian hospitals went on alert to treat bird flu patients after the country's first human death from the virus.
Health Minister Tony Abbott said yesterday Australia was as prepared as it could be and the latest funding boost would ensure clinical trials of a vaccine could be brought forward eight months and could be registered as early as August 2006.
"We can't be absolutely confident that the candidate vaccine will be fully effective against a new pandemic strain," Mr Abbott said.
"Nevertheless, we do have reasonable confidence that it will be reasonably effective and that's why the Government is investing almost $5 million to expedite the process."
Mr Abbott said the funding boost was "timely" but had not been prompted by the Indonesian outbreak.
"What prompted us to do this is the realisation that pandemic flu, should it strike, could easily be the greatest public health disaster in anyone's lifetime," he said.
The minister has said Australia is at greater risk of pandemic than ever before.
But the probability of an outbreak is no more than 10 per cent in any given year.
The funds – on top of the $156 million already spent on pandemic preparations – will help CSL boost its existing manufacturing capacity at its Melbourne plant.
They will also help it to register a pandemic vaccine regulatory dossier with the Therapeutic Goods Administration as soon as possible.
Australia has one of world's largest stockpiles, on a per capita basis, of anti-viral treatments for influenza.
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