Further to Drazen Stojanovic's comments, it's worth noting that the
H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) strain of flu cannot as yet
be cultured in chicken eggs, due to its high pathogenicity to the embryos.
As such, there is no current ability to produce an H5N1 flu vaccine.
If any incentive were needed to develop improved influenza vaccine
production methods, this should be it.
Rapid Response:
Re: Avian flu - perspective?
Further to Drazen Stojanovic's comments, it's worth noting that the
H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) strain of flu cannot as yet
be cultured in chicken eggs, due to its high pathogenicity to the embryos.
As such, there is no current ability to produce an H5N1 flu vaccine.
If any incentive were needed to develop improved influenza vaccine
production methods, this should be it.
Nick Bennett njb35@cantab.net
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests