Jul 23, 2009 4:50 pm US/Eastern
NIH Testing H1N1 Flu Vaccines
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
How many flu shots will you need this fall?
A division of the National Institutes of Health will be testing swine flu, or H1N1, vaccines across the country to figure out the best way to protect everyone come flu season later this year.
"I think no matter what we do, we're going to see a lot of influenza come the fall," says Dr. Judith Martin, and infectious diseases specialist at Children's Hospital. "I think any vaccine that we can administer will decrease the burden of disease that we see."
One study will be checking whether one vaccine dose or two doses given weeks apart will be more effective. Another study compares a lower dose with a higher dose. Yet another study will see what happens when the H1N1 vaccine is given along with the regular seasonal flu vaccine.
"There's definitely going to be more than one shot," says Dr. Martin.
"It's unlikely that they'll come out with the [H1N1 vaccine] at the same time that the seasonal influenza vaccine rolls out in early October," says Guillermo Cole, spokesman for the Allegheny County Health Department. "The H1N1 vaccine will most likely not be ready for distribution to the public until later this year, probably in December."
More than one shot may be just too many for some people.
"People who don't want to get shots, and are sort of scared of the medical system, in general, probably would shy away," says one man walking in Oakland.
"It could prevent some people from going to get it, but there's a lot of fear of swine flu, so that may play a factor as well," says the man walking with him.
"I'd still get them both. Try and stay as preventative as possible," says a woman.
So far, the H1N1 virus has killed more than 700 people worldwide. It's winter flu season in the southern hemisphere right now, so health officials are watching that closely. Cases there continue to be relatively mild, like the seasonal flu, with a quick recovery.
"It's been a very mild illness, much milder than seasonal influenza and not as infectious as seasonal influenza, so I think CDC will have to take all of that into account when deciding whether or not to use the vaccine that will be produced for H1N1," says Cole.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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