H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine PostNote PDF Print Out
A novel strain of influenza (flu) virus subtype H1N1, originating from Mexico, is currently spreading across the globe. A vaccine against the strain could reduce its global impact but would take time to develop and manufacture. Different claims have been made about the time it would take to develop and produce a vaccine. This note describes how a pandemic vaccine for UK use would be manufactured, and alternative techniques for vaccine development and manufacture.
Development of an H1N1 Vaccine
A vaccine against the newly emerging strain of H1N1 could stop or slow its spread, and thus reduce its impact on health services, workplaces, schools and the economy. Since this virus differs markedly from previous strains of H1N1, existing flu vaccines will not work against it and a new vaccine needs to be developed. Several different companies have the technology necessary to develop such a vaccine. This involves making a preparation of the flu virus that will cause an immune response without leading to symptoms of the disease. This is done either by using killed flu viruses, or by using proteins isolated from the virus (Box 1). Vaccine development begins with a sample of the virus responsible for the disease outbreak. Samples of the H1N1 virus have been received by The Health Protection Agency’s National Institute of Biological Standards and
Control (NIBSC), which is developing a strain of the virus suitable for use in vaccine development (see page 2), with the aim of passing it on to vaccine manufacturers. The Vaccine Manufacture Process The main process in vaccine manufacture involves growing large quantities of viruses. The rate at which doses of vaccine can be made depends on how fast the virus can be grown, and on how much viral material is needed in each dose. Therefore, vaccine manufacture techniques are tailored to: grow the virus as quickly as possible; maximise the number of doses that can be obtained from a given quantity of virus (for example by adding an adjuvant, see Box 1).
UK Pandemic Vaccine Suppliers
The Department of Health (DH) has ‘sleeping contracts’ with two manufacturers (Baxter and GSK) which reserve a certain number of doses of any vaccine developed against a pandemic flu strain. These two companies each use a different method of vaccine manufacture. In GSK’s vaccine production process, the quantities of virus needed are grown in hens’ eggs – a traditional method of growing viruses, still used by most vaccine
manufacturers. The viruses are then split into their constituent proteins, some of which are included in the vaccine. In contrast, Baxter grows the virus in cultured mammalian cells, which is a newer technique requiring a high containment facility. The Baxter vaccine includes a whole, killed virus rather than isolated proteins.
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