Friday, July 31, 2009
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CDC: U.S. may need 600 million swine flu vaccine doses
Source
(CNN) -- Questions abound about how to best inoculate the world against swine flu as health officials plan for a campaign that could dwarf any previous flu vaccination effort.
Researchers in Taiwan sort through eggs for a swine flu vaccine. Companies worldwide are working on vaccines.
Among the issues to be resolved are the amount of vaccine likely to be available, the timing of the vaccine's availability, how it would be distributed, who would provide the shots, who would pay for them and whether it will be possible to track potential side effects.
At a recent meeting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health officials said U.S. demand could reach 600 million doses of vaccine, enough for two doses for each of the approximate 300 million people in the United States. That's in case two doses are required for children and adults under 50, CDC representatives said.
That would come on top of the 115 million doses of seasonal flu that are distributed annually, health officials said Friday.
Although there has been no official decision to undertake a major vaccination campaign, senior officials are hinting strongly that they would recommend such an effort.
Congress passed a supplemental appropriation for $7.5 billion, which President Obama recently signed, to cover the costs of preparing for the virus, which includes a vaccination campaign, CDC spokesman Thomas Skinner said.
Small studies in ferrets at the CDC suggest that when compared with seasonal flu, the virus appears to cause more severe disease but also seems to spread less easily.
Ferrets are often used in flu research because the animal's respiratory tract responds to flu viruses in much the same way as a human's. Still, it's too soon to draw any conclusions, said Nancy Cox, director of the CDC's influenza division.
More detailed results will be published in the journal Science this week.
The World Health Organization declared the virus, also known as the novel influenza A(H1N1), a global pandemic June 11. More than 70 countries have reported cases of human infection with the virus, and more than 70,000 cases have been documented worldwide, according to the WHO. There are 27,717 cases in the United States, according to the CDC.
As the first pandemic strain to emerge since 1968, the novel H1N1 virus has attracted interest from pharmaceutical companies around the world. Samples have been sent to dozens of potential vaccine makers, said Michael Shaw, lab team leader for the novel H1N1 response at the CDC.
Most vaccine production will involve the traditional route of growing a modified virus in eggs, but demand is so high that newer methods are getting a serious look.
One comes from a small company called Protein Sciences Corp., based in Meriden, Connecticut, which recently received a $35 million contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to pursue a new vaccine technology.
"The technology has advanced in recent years to a point that we believe it could help meet a surge in demand for U.S.-based vaccine for seasonal and pandemic flu," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement last week.
The company is producing 100,000 doses of vaccine per week, said Daniel Adams, CEO of Protein Sciences Corp.
The technology involves caterpillar ovary cells, which were isolated 20 years ago, and a virus called baculovirus that infects insects but does not harm humans, Adams said. Scientists inject a protein of the novel H1N1 virus into the baculovirus, which can multiply quickly in insect cells.
Making large quantities of this vaccine is faster than with traditional production methods because the basic cells are able to be frozen and stored, the company said in a statement.
Protein Sciences Corp. will have the vaccines ready for use in clinical trials in a month, Adams said. They will also be ready for human use if the FDA issues an emergency authorization to start distributing swine flu vaccines.
"We'll be paving the way for everybody, because the data that's generated in those trials will allow other people to get any idea of what it's going to take, how to make an effective vaccine," Adams said.
But the researchers do not know what is the appropriate dose size for this vaccine or whether it should be given once or twice, he said. These are issues that may be resolved in clinical trials.
A more established player in the vaccine arena is Sanofi Pasteur, which could have vaccines for the novel H1N1 virus available for clinical investigation in humans this summer, spokeswoman Donna Cary said. Supplies could become available to public health authorities in four to six months, and the FDA is reviewing the final clinical trial design, she said.
Novartis AG, another large pharmaceutical company, announced June 12 that it had produced the first batch of H1N1 vaccine weeks ahead of expectations, using cell-based manufacturing technology.
The company plans for clinical trials to start in July and expects licensure in the fall.
Abroad, the United Kingdom's department of health has signed contracts with pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline and Baxter. The advance purchase agreement allows for up to 130 million doses, but there is flexibility in the contract, spokesman James Hotson said.
The UK health department expects that 75 million doses will be produced before the end of the year, with the first supplies arriving in August, Hotson said.
GlaxoSmithKline spokesman Jeff McLaughlin said his company's first doses are expected to be available in four to six months.
Baxter has just gone into full-scale production of its novel H1N1 vaccine and is hoping to deliver it for clinical trials as early as July, said Kim White, spokesperson for the company. The clinical work for this vaccine is based on the H5N1 avian flu, she said.
"The clinical trials [part] is a little tricky, given that this is a brand new virus," she said. "No one has done clinical trials with this particular virus."
In planning, U.S. health officials are taking into account the experience of the 1976 swine flu vaccine campaign, which strove to immunize against the strain found at Fort Dix, New Jersey. More than 40 million people received the vaccine before the campaign ended because some recipients developed Guillain-Barre syndrome, which causes temporary paralysis.
There's still no good working theory on what caused it, Cox said. Comparisons between the two episodes are limited in value, she said, because genetic analysis shows that the current H1N1 virus is very different from the 1976 swine flu virus.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Jackson Left His Father Out of Most Recent Will
His dad deserves that.
/keeseng
Source
A will drafted by Michael Jackson in 2002 which divides the singer's estate among his mother, three children and one or more charities could play a central role in determining how his tangled financial relationships will be unwound.
Several people close to the late Jackson said that a lawyer for the pop singer could submit the will, believed to be his last, to Los Angeles Superior Court as soon as Thursday. That filing would cap a tense period in which relatives and advisers of the late singer debated what document, if any, was valid.
One or two other earlier wills have emerged since Jackson's death last Thursday, according to people familiar with the situation. The Associated Press reported that Jackson's parents, Joseph and Katherine Jackson, said in a Monday court filing that they believed the singer had died without a valid will. Joseph Jackson isn't believed to be included in the most recent will.
In an email message, a lawyer for Jackson's parents said neither he nor his clients had seen the 2002 will. "No will has been presented to family or us," wrote the lawyer, L. Londell McMillan, who also once represented Michael Jackson. "We will review any will when we see it."
McMillan said that he had spent much of Monday trying to ensure that Jackson's mother would receive custody of the singer's three children. A Los Angeles court on Monday granted her temporary custody pending a hearing in July. McMillan said the family is "pleased" with that decision. It wasn't clear what custody arrangements are called for by the 2002 will.
This will names as executors lawyer John Branca and a veteran music executive named John McClain who was also a friend of Jackson. Branca, who served as Jackson's primary attorney between 1980 and 2006, wrote the will. Jackson had rehired Branca the week before his death last Thursday. Branca didn't respond to requests for comment Monday; McClain couldn't be reached.
Child found alive from crashed plane
Lately there is quite a number of cases related to airplane crash...
This young child is really lucky. but the problem is whether the young child's parent is still alive or not. Stay strong.
/keeseng
Source
(CNN) -- A young child has been recovered alive from a Yemeni jet crash in the Indian Ocean, an airline official said Tuesday.
Relatives of passengers of the plane that crashed await news at Marseille airport in southern France.
Relatives of passengers of the plane that crashed await news at Marseille airport in southern France.
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The child was the first person found alive from the jet, which was carrying more than 150 people en route to the island nation of Comoros from Yemen's capital, Sanaa.
The child was found in the waters and was taken to a hospital, said Captain Abdulkhalek al-Kadi, chairman of Yemenia Airways.
"One child is alive and we hope to find more," the chairman said.
He blamed the crash on bad weather. "It was high seas and windy weather," he said. Video Airline says more survivors will hopefully be found »
A reconnaissance plane had earlier spotted traces of the jet in the sea near the town of Mitsamiouli, Comoros Vice President Idi Nadhoim said Tuesday.
"There were no sign of survivors," he said before the child was found. "There are a few bodies floating and there is a lot of debris floating around."
The crash took place as the plane approached the Hahaya airport in Moroni. The plane tried but failed to land and then performed a U-turn before it crashed, Nadhoim said. Officials did not know why the plane could not land, he said. Recent plane crashes »
There were 142 passengers and 11 crew members aboard, Yemenia Air officials said.
Nadhoim offered another figure, saying there were 147 passengers.
Flight 626 left Sanaa at 9:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) for what was expected to be a four-and-a-half-hour flight. The airline has three regular flights a week to Moroni, off the east coast of Africa, about 2,900 km (1,800 miles) south of Yemen.
The crash occurred about 1:30 a.m., Nadhoim said.
Most of the passengers aboard the Airbus A310 were Comorans, an official at Sanaa's international airport told CNN.
An official at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris said there were also 66 French passengers aboard.
There was no indication of foul play behind the crash, the official in Yemen said.
Yemenia Air had used the jet since 1999, on about 17,300 flights, Airbus officials said. The company said it would assist in investigating the crash.
"We are extremely saddened and our thoughts are with the families, friends and loved ones affected by this accident," Airbus spokeswoman Maggie Bergsma told CNN.
"We are giving our maximum support and assistance to the authorities and the airline."
"This includes a team of Airbus experts that will go on site and our crisis center has been open since early this morning, where our specialists work in direct contact with the airline and the authorities," Bergsma added.
"The task now is to gather as much information as possible, including retrieval of the black boxes, to help us understand what happened. This will need time and patience."
The crash is the second involving an Airbus jet in a month. On June 1, an Air France Airbus A330 crashed off Brazil while en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, France. All 228 aboard are presumed dead. The cause remains under investigation.
Joe Jackson: Michael's Funeral Will be Large, Open to Public
I read somewhere that his dad is a fucktard. During his interview with the reporters, instead of grieving over his son's death, he promoted his products to everyone who was watching the interview. Stupid.
/keeseng
Source
After plugging his record company, Michael Jackson's father Joe said in a press conference outside his home Monday that the family was planning a large public funeral for the deceased singer.
Joe Jackson says planning for a funeral will await a finding on what happened to his son, who died Thursday at age 50.
The family has sanctioned a second autopsy to be conducted on the King of Pop's body, which they said is already underway.
FULL COVERAGE: Get all of FOXNews.com's Michael Jackson stories, photos and video.
"We aren't ready for [releasing information on the funeral]. We don't have the time frame yet because we want to see when the private autopsy comes out."
But Joe Jackson says the funeral will not be closed to the public, as his son would likely have wanted a similar type of service.
Sharpton says the funeral plan has to be careful and deliberate and cannot be done spontaneously.
"[The Jacksons] gave the world a whole new glow and they must be careful to protect that glow," Sharpton said.
Joe Jackson defended his plug of his record label with Marshall Thompson at the BET Awards last night, when a reporter asked him about his son.
"Now I was asked that question and I answered just like it was asked because they wanted to know what else I was doing," Jackson said before going into discussions about his son.
"The family and I are very proud to see all of you come out here and help us with this whole situation because we know that we do have fans all over the world and we know that we're loved all over the world. But one thing that I wish could have happened — I wish that Michael could be here to see all of this. [We] had to wait until something happened like this before it could be realized. Michael was a superstar ... he was loved all over the world."
Jackson also said that he was pleased with the judge's decision to grant him and his wife Catherine temporary custody of Michael's three children
"[The children] are happy with the kids that they're around ... We have kids back there who are small just like they are. They [were] never around other kids," Jackson said.
Joe Jackson, notorious for his rumored abuse of his children including Michael, said the last time he saw his son was about a week before his death.
Hidden body
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