by Peter Orengo

Kenya is among the first 100 countries set to receive a new vaccine for the H1N1 flu early next month.

The country was chosen by World Health Organisation among other developing nations to receive the first batches of the vaccine.

The vaccine, MF59-adjuvanted cell-culture based A (H1N1) vaccine, has shown remarkable success in fighting the world’s latest epidemic, which has so far killed over 4,500 people.

Five companies, AstraZeneca, MedImmune Unit, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Novartis AG and Sanofi-Aventis are already manufacturing the vaccine.

Public Health Minister Beth Mugo on Monday said Kenya had requested for the vaccine, which was already being used in China, Australia and the US.

"We requested for the vaccine… We hope it will help us combat this epidemic," Mugo told The Standard by telephone.

Health officers take samples from a child in Nyeri District, suspected to have been infected with swine flu in August. Photo: File/Standard

She said when the first batch arrives her ministry will first educate the public on its use before rolling out the vaccination exercise.

Doctors have been administering Tamiflu drugs to control the flu, which infected several Kenyans.

The swine flu virus has rapidly spread to schools and institution increasing fear among health officials that thousands of Kenyans could have contracted the virus without knowing.

Public Health Director Shahnaaz Shariff told The Standard that the spread of the H1N1 virus is normal and the Health Ministry had anticipated it.

He said the strain going round in the country is extremely mild and not as fatal as the one that has caused thousands of deaths worldwide.

"What we have is mild. There are cases which are not symptomatic, but we only came to know about them through tests," Dr Shariff said.

According to WHO, one dose of H1N1 vaccine should offer ample protection against the pandemic flu strain.

The organisation plans to start sending H1N1 flu vaccines to poorer countries as early as next month, the United Nations agency’s head of vaccine research Marie-Paule Kieny said on Monday.

Kieny said about 100 low- and middle-income nations would receive the vaccines donated by companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi, as well as related supplies such as syringes.

These will still be inadequate to cover a world population of 6.8 billion people in which virtually everyone is susceptible to infection by the new and readily contagious virus.

She said the global manufacturing capacity for influenza vaccines is limited, inadequate and not readily augmented.

"Pandemic vaccines have their greatest impact as a preventive strategy when administered before or near the peak incidence of cases in an outbreak.

"Both regulatory authorities and vaccine manufacturers have made extraordinary efforts to expedite the availability of vaccines," Kieny said.

Many affluent countries have previously contracted with manufacturers to obtain sufficient vaccine supplies to cover their entire populations. However, most low and middle-income countries lack the financial resources to compete for an early share of limited supplies.

Vaccine supplies in these countries will largely depend on donations from manufacturers and other countries.

Because the pandemic virus is new, trials are being conducted to gain essential information on immune response and safety. Outcomes of trials completed to date suggest that pandemic vaccines are as safe as seasonal influenza vaccines.

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that certain at-risk populations receive the new H1N1 vaccine as a priority before the general population.

These include healthcare providers, children, pregnant women and individuals with underlying chronic medical conditions, including asthma.

People who have severe asthma may be particularly at risk for infection with the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.

WHO has announced that side effects are expected to be similar to those observed with seasonal influenza vaccines.

These may include local reactions at the injection site (soreness, swelling, redness) and possibly some systemic reactions (fever, headache, muscle or joint aches). In almost all vaccine recipients, these symptoms are mild, self-limited and last 1-2 days.

However, even very large clinical trials will not be able to identify possible rare effects that can occur when pandemic vaccines are administered to millions of people.

WHO advises all countries administering pandemic vaccines to conduct intensive monitoring for safety and to report any side effects.