Getting More Companies To Produce Flu Vaccine May Head Off Delays.(Brief Article)

2001 JUN 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) --

The U.S. will continue to risk flu vaccine shortages as long as only a handful of companies produce the vaccine, health officials said May 31, 2001.

Last year's shortage occurred after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered two of the nation's four flu vaccine makers to correct manufacturing problems in their factories, delaying production. One of those companies no longer produces the vaccine, which means the nation is relying on just three manufacturers.

"We have to assure the supply and consider what it would take to attract other manufacturers into the marketplace," Martin G. Myers, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Vaccine Program Office, told doctors and health officials at an immunization meeting held by the CDC.

The flu kills about 20,000 people a year, mostly people over 65 or those suffering from chronic illnesses such as heart and lung disease, asthma or diabetes. Flu season typically runs from October to March.

It's too early to predict possible shortages this winter, Myers said, because how much vaccine a certain company is making is proprietary information.

Last year, manufacturers had trouble growing one of the influenza strains. Because different flu strains emerge each year, a new flu vaccine must be brewed annually.