With no advisory yet from the WHO on vaccinating people against swine flu,the city-based Serum Institute of India Limited-the only organisation in the country shortlisted for manufacturing one-continues to wait for the strain of the H1N1 virus from the US-based Centre for Disease Control. The National Institute of Virology (NIV) has on its part isolated the virus and characterised nearly 70 per cent of the virus showing that it was similar to the one that caused havoc in countries like USA and Mexico. It is not clear whether a swine flu vaccine is needed, NIV director Dr A C Mishra said. Scientists had successfully isolated the H1N1 influenza A virus from nasal swabs of the only swine flu positive patient from Hyderabad. We grew the virus in cell lines and chicken eggs, Mishra said. The NIV team,led by Dr M S Chadda,has been working on the effort at their Pashan-based Microbial Containment Centre. There is no way to predict whether the virus can become more pathogenic or less virulent. As against the H5N1 (bird flu) virus,this one has a high rate of transmissibility and has infected more than 8,000 people in 50 countries in just two months, Mishra said. The virus has not changed much and we will closely monitor the situation, he said,adding that they were documenting the information pertaining to its virulence. But there is no advisory from the WHO to vaccinate people against the virus. The advisory also depends on factors like severity and spread of the virus. The infections with the H1N1 swine flu virus continue to be mild and recovery is fairly quick. The WHO is yet to issue an advisory on the issue as companies in the Western world have stocked seasonal flu vaccines and hence there is a debate on whether companies should go ahead with large scale production of the H1N1 vaccine, said Dr Rajeev Dhere,senior director,Vaccine Production,Serum Institute of India Limited. At the Serum Institute,however,the laboratory has been readied and scientists are waiting for the virus strain to arrive from the US. We are likely to get it by the first week of July, Dhere said.
