Guardian : John Carvel
Early supplies of H1N1 vaccine to go into production immediately, before WHO decides if virus is pandemic.

The government today signed contracts to secure up to 90m doses of swine flu vaccine by December.

It said the pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Baxter will start producing the H1N1 vaccine almost immediately without waiting to discover whether the World Health Organisation declares that the swine flu outbreak has reached pandemic proportions.

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By Jason Gale and Simeon Bennett

May 13 (Bloomberg) — The World Health Organization is investigating a claim by an Australian researcher that the swine flu virus circling the globe may have been created as a result of human error.

Adrian Gibbs, 75, who collaborated on research that led to the development of Roche Holding AG’s Tamiflu drug, said in an interview that he intends to publish a report suggesting the new strain may have accidentally evolved in eggs scientists use to grow viruses and drugmakers use to make vaccines. Gibbs said he came to his conclusion as part of an effort to trace the virus’s origins by analyzing its genetic blueprint.

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Time: In February 1976, an outbreak of swine flu struck Fort Dix Army base in New Jersey, killing a 19-year-old private and infecting hundreds of soldiers. Concerned that the U.S. was on the verge of a devastating epidemic, President Gerald Ford ordered a nationwide vaccination program at a cost of $135 million (some $500 million in today’s money). Within weeks, reports surfaced of people developing Guillain-Barré syndrome, a paralyzing nerve disease that can be caused by the vaccine. By April, more than 30 people had died of the condition. Facing protests, federal officials abruptly canceled the program on Dec. 16. The epidemic failed to materialize.

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