Swine flu has affected people in over 74 countries. According to WHO figures, there are over 10,000 cases of infection reported, and over 500 deaths have been reported worldwide since the first time the H1N1 virus started making its presence felt in the year 2009. While the first phase of this disease is believed to be over, there is no way one can claim that the disease will not make another appearance in a more deadly form.
Global health systems are still struggling to find ways to fight the H1N1 virus in a more effective way. The fact that the World Health Organization believes that the disease can affect a quarter of the world’s population is ample proof of the fact that this is not the last that we have heard of the swine flu virus.
Meanwhile, questions about the safety of the swine flu vaccine persist. There is a whole lot of hype and many myths floating around everywhere about the effectiveness of the vaccination. The swine flu vaccine was approved for human use in the year 2009. They are said to be much less risky than the diseases that they prevent from occurring. Those who are worried about the side effects, called the Guillian-Barre syndrome, will find solace in the fact that only one or two of every million people who get the vaccine shot fall victim to the GB Syndrome.
During clinical trials, around 15,000 children received the vaccine from various approved manufacturers. The results of the trials have not shown the vaccine causing any drastic side effects to the children. There are some problems with the vaccine yield though. Vaccine manufacturers reported problems in getting a hybrid of the swine flu virus—a crucial step in the current technology for making swine flu vaccines. In some cases, the viral yield was only a fifth of the potency of what was expected.
There are some manufacturers who are working with a different seed strain that is expected to increase the yield. It is important to develop the necessary technology as soon as possible to ensure that the vaccine is available in its most potent and safe form when the virus makes its presence felt across the globe the next time around.
