Times are changing, even for the traditional
flu vaccine production techniques in fertilized eggs:
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Freslib%2F200510%2Fr62671_172833.jpg&hash=dca0ffdb2180b247a9bb50f1bcf57d60)
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200510/r62671_172833.jpg
Feasible strategy for pandemic flu
Current vaccines, which can take up to 6 months to produce, are made in fertilised chicken eggs.
Scientists estimate that 4 billion eggs would be needed to produce enough pandemic vaccine for the up to 2 billion people worldwide who would be at high risk.
Egg-based vaccines are also not useful for stockpiling because a vaccine would have to be specific to the pandemic strain.
Dr Sambhara, Dr Suresh Mittal of Purdue University in Indiana and their colleagues genetically engineered an adenovirus, or common cold virus, to produce a protein call haemugglutnin subtype 5 (H5HA), which is a component of the H5N1 virus.
"This H5 adenovirus vaccine is an egg-independent and adjuvant-independent strategy," said Dr Sambhara.
The scienitsts injected one group of mice with the new vaccine and another with a saline solution before infecting the animals with H5N1 viruses isolated from people in 2003 and 2004.
The scientists, whose findings are reported online by The Lancet medical journal, said although the vaccinated mice had low or no antibodies they did not lose weight or die.
Antibodies are immune system proteins that neutralise the virus.
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more reading from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200602/s1560534.htm