New Technologies to Meet the Challenge of Pandemic Influenza

摘要

In the early spring of 2009, a new strain of H1N1 influenza emerged and swept across the globe more rapidly than vaccine producers could keep pace. By the time the pandemic abated in February 2010, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that between 8,500 and 17,600 Americans had died from H1N1 infection, with a disproportionate number of deaths occurring among healthy children and young adults. An estimated 15-25% of the nation's population was exposed to the virus. However, production of vaccine against this aggressive new influenza strain was agonizingly slow. A total of 18 weeks passed between identification of the new virus and the start of the pandemic's "second wave" — 26 weeks to the peak of that second wave. But the first dosesof vaccine did not become available until 26 weeks after strain identification, when spread of the virus was already at its zenith. Vaccine doses sufficient to protect 50% of the US population became available at 38 weeks, and doses to protect 100% of the population were available 48 weeks after strain identification (l).