Supplying flu drugs, developing vaccine pose challenges, present quandaries.(Food & Drug)

WHO has already put major vaccine makers on alert that they may be asked to switch to making pandemic vaccine soon. According to Chris Viehbacher, chief executive of Sanofi-Aventis, Europe's biggest vaccine maker, his scientists are "working around the clock" on preparations for making a swine flu vaccine for when WHO comes calling, Reuters stated.

But they too are waiting for more information. "It is premature to forecast how many doses of swine flu vaccine we could produce," Viehbacher said, noting the company needs to see how much antigen, the active ingredient in a vaccine, is required for each shot. If all goes well, the first doses should be available several months after production begins.

However, what no public health official at FDA or CDC wants is a repeat of the 1976 swine flu vaccination, which was in response to a threat of a flu epidemic that never came.

In that year, the federal government rushed a vaccine into use, fearing a repeat of the 1918-19 pandemic, which was primarily related to birds, not pigs.

More than 500 Americans who were inoculated contracted Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare disorder that causes temporary paralysis. Some 25 died. The federal government paid millions in damages to people or their families and the episode rocked the safety and integrity of vaccines, including pediatric vaccines. In addition, no epidemic ensued.