Testing Delayed Again for H1N1 Vaccine

The H1N1 virus is predicted to hit the country hard by as early as mid-October but in states like Oklahoma the vaccine has yet to be tested.

Thursday, August 27th 2009, 5:01 pm

By: News 9


By Jon Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The H1N1 virus is predicted to hit the country hard by as early as mid-October but in states like Oklahoma the vaccine has yet to be tested.

For the second time testing has been delayed in our state, rising questions whether the vaccine will be effective.

The H1N1 virus is considered by health officials as the next possible pandemic.

"Most of us don't have any immunity to it, to any degree," ISP Medical Director Dr. Louise Thurman said. "The rapidity with which this is spreading is extremely alarming."

Dr. Louise Thurman is well versed in all things H1N1; it's her company that is heading the clinical trials for the vaccine in Oklahoma, trials overseen by the National Institute of Health that has now delayed Dr. Thurman's office for a second time.

"I would anticipate it's going to delay release to the general public by a couple of weeks, that would be my best educated guess," Dr. Thurman said.

A delay in a report out by the White House says it would make a large portion of the drug available by mid-October, but by then the report says:

"Could significantly diminish the usefulness of vaccination for mitigating the epidemic and could place many at risk of serious disease."

The same report that says a "plausible scenario" of the virus could cause up to 90,000 deaths, hospitalize 1.8 million with up to 300,000 patients requiring intensive care.

It's that reason the CDC says the vaccine needs to be perfect.

"The scope of this is something that's attempted nationwide and the number of doses to be administered is really quite ambitious," Director of the H1N1 Task Force, Dr. Jay Butler said.

But despite the limited tests, health officials say the vaccine should be effective because it's been developed from the strain that led to two outbreaks last April.

"They've isolated that strain, they are manufacturing the strain from a modified version of that," Dr. Thurman said.

According to Dr. Thurman in the few places where testing of the vaccine has been done, so far, it appears to be working with limited side effects.

Clinical Testing for H1N1 will be held at the IPS Research Company. They are seeking people from 3 to 8-years-old and 65-years-old and older. Test subjects will be compensated for their time.

Find out more at the IPS Research Company Web site.

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