Experimental swine flu vaccine expected in weeks
Scientists could have an experimental vaccine for swine flu in the next few weeks, the head of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory said Thursday.
"Our scientists are making excellent progress in developing a vaccine seed stock for the H1N1 flu," Frank Plummer told a news conference at the Winnipeg lab.
"Their efforts are contributing to the international effort to develop a H1N1 vaccine as quickly as possible."
The vaccine seed stock — the first step in producing a vaccine — could be available in a few weeks, but production of a usable vaccine to prevent cases of swine flu in humans is several months away, he noted.
News of the vaccine came as the Public Health Agency of Canada announced that 13 new cases of swine flu have been confirmed in the country, bringing the total number of cases to 214. The new cases include three in Alberta, two in Saskatchewan, seven in Ontario and one in Quebec.
Worldwide, there are now 2,371 confirmed cases of swine flu in 24 countries, according to the World Health Organization. Forty-four people have died — 42 in Mexico and two in the United States.
Reports that emerged Thursday suggested an elderly Alberta woman who had swine flu has also died. Officials have not yet commented on the case.
Mexicans' symptoms are more severe
Researchers worldwide have been trying to figure out why people infected in Mexico have more severe symptoms than those elsewhere.
On Wednesday, federal scientists announced it's unlikely that the genetics of swine flu virus itself explain it.
Plummer praised the scientists who have been working around the clock to study the virus since the first samples from Mexico were received on April 22.
"We think this is a big step forward in understanding how this virus works, how it's changing in the human population and perhaps where it came from."
At the genetic level, nothing distinguishes the samples from Mexico from those from Nova Scotia or Ontario, aside from small differences, Plummer said.
"This is a very exciting atmosphere to work in in the best of times, and certainly right now, this is better than the best of times," said Dr. Carole Beaudoin, an epidemiologist with the Public Health Agency of Canada who is working with her counterparts in Mexico to understand how swine flu is transmitted.
Workers at the lab are confirming the presence of the H1N1 virus in more than 750 specimens from Mexico, and they received more specimens from the country on April 29 and May 5.
Some scientists from the lab have travelled to a national laboratory in Mexico City to help Mexican scientists get up to speed on the testing, and to assist in tracking down the history of patients to learn where, when and how people were exposed to the virus.