A vaccine in the hand is worth — not much

A bird flu vaccine, the first of its kind, recently was approved by the Food and Drug Administration, whose representatives said it was better than nothing. According to the Associated Press, 20 million doses are expected to be purchased and stockpiled by the government, to be administered to health care and emergency workers should an outbreak erupt. Clinical trials have shown an efficacy rate of only about 45 percent.
This is not the least bit reassuring in light of FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach’s statement that “the threat of an influenza pandemic is, at present, one of the most significant public health issues our nation and world faces.”
Posted by Patrice Hein

12 Comments

  1. GSheridan
    Posted April 19, 2007 at 4:47 am | Permalink

    I’m not at all surprised by this.

    Of course the Bird Flu scare has been put on the back burner for the time being – because Global Warming (the sky is falling) is doing such a good job of fear-mongering just now.

    lol

  2. brian
    Posted April 19, 2007 at 5:38 pm | Permalink

    Sensationalism sells papers and commercials. Global warming, bird flu, salmonella, and terrorism are so much scarier than heart disease and AIDS.

    Maybe statistical risk should drive health policy and spending. How much Lipitor and AIDS medicine has been stockpiled?

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