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Measures against flu needed / Govt urged to set up framework to fight new influenza outbreak
Masae Honma / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
The government has finally started drawing up measures to prepare for a possible outbreak of a new strain of pandemic influenza, including the inoculation of 6,000 medical practitioners and quarantine officers with pre-pandemic influenza vaccine by the end of this fiscal year.
However, concrete plans to deal with such an outbreak are underdeveloped. The government needs to establish a framework for containing a possible pandemic as a matter of urgency.
At a meeting of Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry experts held April 16 to discuss measures for tackling an outbreak, Nobuhiko Okabe, chair of the meeting and director of the Infectious Disease Surveillance Center--an arm of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases--stressed the importance of inoculation.
"A new influenza virus is waiting to emerge. We need to do everything we can before the outbreak," Okabe said.
The pre-pandemic influenza vaccine contain antigens that correspond to the H5N1 influenza virus, a type of avian flu that has spread from birds to humans in countries including China and Indonesia. According to the World Health Organization, avian flu had killed 240 people worldwide as of last Thursday.
The vaccine would not offer full protection against the new envisioned influenza virus because the new strain likely would develop via the mutation of the avian flu virus. However, it is expected the vaccine will at least partially block infection and stop serious symptoms from developing while vaccines that contain antigens corresponding to the new virus are being created following a possible outbreak.
The United States and advanced countries in Europe are currently storing pre-pandemic vaccines. Switzerland already has prepared enough vaccine to inoculate all its citizens.
If the government goes ahead with its plans, Japan would be the first country to administer the vaccine to a large number of people. The government is worried about the possibility of another avian flu outbreak centering on Asia. According to the government's estimate, a new influenza strain could enter Japan within two weeks after the virus is confirmed in Asia. However, experts say it could arrive much earlier. The government believes it would be too late to carry out a vaccination program after a new virus has been confirmed.
However, as some of the 20 million doses of vaccine currently in stock are due to expire next year, the government has decided to initially inoculate about 6,000 people who have the highest chance of coming into contact with carriers of a new influenza strain. Quarantine officers and doctors and nurses working at designated hospitals for infectious diseases would be among the first wave of inoculees.
The government has shown a willingness to tackle this type of influenza entering the country. However, there are several possible problems associated with its plans, including whether doctors and nurses would cooperate with the inoculation program.
The vaccination has risks. Okabe explained that one of the objectives of the initial vaccinations would be to confirm the vaccine's degree of safety. No serious side effects other than fever were confirmed during a clinical trial conducted on about 1,000 people, but rare side effects expected to occur in one in 10,000 people have not been examined yet. With measles vaccinations, serious side effects such as encephalitis occur once in every 1 million to 1.5 million cases.
Moreover, even if the people accept the risks associated with the vaccination, the effectiveness of the vaccine against the possible new influenza strain is unclear. For the second wave of inoculations, the government is considering vaccinating the about 10 million people who support the public infrastructure, such as gas, electricity and transportation workers. Ordinary citizens would be at the end of the queue for the vaccine. To ensure cooperation from the public, statistically derived detailed information must be provided on the benefits and risks involved.
In addition to the inoculation, the government this month announced measures to block new types of influenza from entering Japan, such as by restricting the number of foreigners entering Japan from countries where such diseases are known to exist, and prohibiting Japanese infected with a new type of flu from returning to Japan. However, whether such steps would prove effective is unknown.
Measures to deal with a new influenza strain once it has entered the country are lagging behind those of other advanced nations.
Microbiologist Prof. Hitoshi Oshitani of Tohoku University's Faculty of Medicine told the meeting, "We need to discuss measures to minimize the spread of a new influenza strain after it has entered the country."
However, the details of such measures--including how to prioritize vaccinations and secure an adequate number of medical practitioners when they might be susceptible to infection--are not yet available.
Experts point out it is difficult to prevent new influenza strains from reaching and spreading across Japan unless such measures are implemented rapidly.
Local governments and private companies are currently at a loss as to what measures to take against a possible pandemic of a new influenza strain. The government needs to draw up a framework that includes a vaccination timetable and a prioritization list as soon as possible, to allow local governments and companies to put in place concrete measures to tackle a possible pandemic.
(Apr. 24, 2008)
Masae Honma / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
The government has finally started drawing up measures to prepare for a possible outbreak of a new strain of pandemic influenza, including the inoculation of 6,000 medical practitioners and quarantine officers with pre-pandemic influenza vaccine by the end of this fiscal year.
However, concrete plans to deal with such an outbreak are underdeveloped. The government needs to establish a framework for containing a possible pandemic as a matter of urgency.
At a meeting of Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry experts held April 16 to discuss measures for tackling an outbreak, Nobuhiko Okabe, chair of the meeting and director of the Infectious Disease Surveillance Center--an arm of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases--stressed the importance of inoculation.
"A new influenza virus is waiting to emerge. We need to do everything we can before the outbreak," Okabe said.
The pre-pandemic influenza vaccine contain antigens that correspond to the H5N1 influenza virus, a type of avian flu that has spread from birds to humans in countries including China and Indonesia. According to the World Health Organization, avian flu had killed 240 people worldwide as of last Thursday.
The vaccine would not offer full protection against the new envisioned influenza virus because the new strain likely would develop via the mutation of the avian flu virus. However, it is expected the vaccine will at least partially block infection and stop serious symptoms from developing while vaccines that contain antigens corresponding to the new virus are being created following a possible outbreak.
The United States and advanced countries in Europe are currently storing pre-pandemic vaccines. Switzerland already has prepared enough vaccine to inoculate all its citizens.
If the government goes ahead with its plans, Japan would be the first country to administer the vaccine to a large number of people. The government is worried about the possibility of another avian flu outbreak centering on Asia. According to the government's estimate, a new influenza strain could enter Japan within two weeks after the virus is confirmed in Asia. However, experts say it could arrive much earlier. The government believes it would be too late to carry out a vaccination program after a new virus has been confirmed.
However, as some of the 20 million doses of vaccine currently in stock are due to expire next year, the government has decided to initially inoculate about 6,000 people who have the highest chance of coming into contact with carriers of a new influenza strain. Quarantine officers and doctors and nurses working at designated hospitals for infectious diseases would be among the first wave of inoculees.
The government has shown a willingness to tackle this type of influenza entering the country. However, there are several possible problems associated with its plans, including whether doctors and nurses would cooperate with the inoculation program.
The vaccination has risks. Okabe explained that one of the objectives of the initial vaccinations would be to confirm the vaccine's degree of safety. No serious side effects other than fever were confirmed during a clinical trial conducted on about 1,000 people, but rare side effects expected to occur in one in 10,000 people have not been examined yet. With measles vaccinations, serious side effects such as encephalitis occur once in every 1 million to 1.5 million cases.
Moreover, even if the people accept the risks associated with the vaccination, the effectiveness of the vaccine against the possible new influenza strain is unclear. For the second wave of inoculations, the government is considering vaccinating the about 10 million people who support the public infrastructure, such as gas, electricity and transportation workers. Ordinary citizens would be at the end of the queue for the vaccine. To ensure cooperation from the public, statistically derived detailed information must be provided on the benefits and risks involved.
In addition to the inoculation, the government this month announced measures to block new types of influenza from entering Japan, such as by restricting the number of foreigners entering Japan from countries where such diseases are known to exist, and prohibiting Japanese infected with a new type of flu from returning to Japan. However, whether such steps would prove effective is unknown.
Measures to deal with a new influenza strain once it has entered the country are lagging behind those of other advanced nations.
Microbiologist Prof. Hitoshi Oshitani of Tohoku University's Faculty of Medicine told the meeting, "We need to discuss measures to minimize the spread of a new influenza strain after it has entered the country."
However, the details of such measures--including how to prioritize vaccinations and secure an adequate number of medical practitioners when they might be susceptible to infection--are not yet available.
Experts point out it is difficult to prevent new influenza strains from reaching and spreading across Japan unless such measures are implemented rapidly.
Local governments and private companies are currently at a loss as to what measures to take against a possible pandemic of a new influenza strain. The government needs to draw up a framework that includes a vaccination timetable and a prioritization list as soon as possible, to allow local governments and companies to put in place concrete measures to tackle a possible pandemic.
(Apr. 24, 2008)
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