We live in a nation with vast medical and technological resources, yet most of its H1N1 vaccine originated with 30 chicken eggs in a New York laboratory.
Some 50 million Americans have contracted the H1N1 virus so far this fall -- while millions who want vaccinations have to wait. It's time the U.S. government addresses the modernization of flu vaccine production.
The current technology, 50 years old, involves injecting the virus into eggs and allowing it to feed on the nutrients in the egg white. This is not a process that can be rushed. The result was a drastic shortfall in the 120 million doses of the vaccine that federal officials said would be ready by mid-October. Just over 12 million doses were actually ready then, and the epidemic was already in full swing.
There must be a better way.
A modern cell-culture method is available. It could simplify and speed production. Other experts recommend stretching the vaccine supply by adding adjuvants to amplify the immune response. So far, the Food and Drug Administration has not approved either of those methods.
Instead, massive H1N1 outbreaks swept the
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In a typical flu season, some 36,000 die, most of them elderly. While H1N1 has resulted in fewer deaths so far, more children and young people have been hospitalized or have died than in typical years. That's particularly devastating when the virus is preventable through widespread inoculation.
This is not the first time the flu vaccine supply has been low. Shortages limited the availability to healthy adults in 2000 and 2004.
The United States needs to modernize the production of the vaccine. The health and safety of American lives should not rely on such an antiquated process to supply this effective preventative medicine.
Editorials reflect the consensus of the Telegraph Herald Editorial Board.
