First Swine Flu Vaccine Will Be Nasal Spray

Supplies running low, manufacturers can't make more

(NEWSER) - Severe shortages of seasonal flu vaccines are expected across the country in coming weeks as supplies run short amid increasing demand. Manufacturers have committed their production to making H1N1 vaccines and lack the capacity to make any more seasonal flu vaccines this year. The director of the CDC told lawmakers yesterday that officials are “very frustrated” by the shortages but are powerless to prevent them, the New York Times reports. More»

Uncertainty of supply makes scheduling immunization clinics tough

(NEWSER) - Production delays that are slowing the distribution of the H1N1 flu vaccine could hardly have come at a worse time, with the death toll in young people mounting and antivaccine activists seizing on any chance to make their position heard. Experts point out that the H1N1 version uses the same formula as the seasonal flu vaccine: "One hundred million people get those every year, and we believe there's a very strong safety record for them," says a CDC official. More»

(NEWSER) - Pregnant women and people who care for infants will be first in line for the swine flu vaccine this fall, the Washington Post reports. Infants, children and young adults under 24, chronically ill adults aged 25 to 64, and health care workers are the other top priority groups under guidelines drawn up by experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday. More»

(NEWSER) - With panic over the H1N1 flu virus on the wane, some Americans are pondering allowing themselves to become infected in hopes of building immunity against potentially more virulent strains, the New York Times reports. Doctors are split on the idea. "I think it's totally nuts," says a flu specialist. "We don't know enough about how this virus could react." More»

Total lower than usual, but victims skew younger

(NEWSER) - The H1N1 pandemic has been less deadly than a normal flu season, but the infection has claimed the lives of far younger victims, the CDC announced today. The outbreak killed 17,000 Americans, far less than the 36,000 who die during an average flu season. But in a normal flu season, 90% of victims are elderly. This time, the reverse was true; Between 880 and 1,800 of those killed in the outbreak were children, and up to 13,000 more were adults under the age of 65. More»