Vietnam to Produce A/H5N1 Vaccine for Humans in 2013

The Vietnamese National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology will make A/H5N1 flu vaccine for humans in 2013, Nguyen Tran Hien, head of the institute, confirmed. The institute is conducting the third stage of the vaccine testing in humans, which is expected to last by end-2012. Experts warned that prolonged cold spells in Vietnam will cause more outbreaks of bird flu next months after the first two deaths of A/H5N1 influenza virus in Jan, adding that both come from the southern provinces of Kien Giang and Soc Trang. At least five provinces nationwide have reported reoccurrences of the A/H5N1 virus so far this year. About 4,000 poultry have been destroyed, including 1,700 infected ones. Vietnam has to date reported roughly 121 human infections, including 61 deaths of the disease since the virus first detected here in 2003. Researchers at the University of Queensland’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) are joining hands with colleagues at the Pasteur Institute in Vietnam to progress research in vaccine development for pandemic avian influenza or A/H5N1. (Dat Viet – National Land Feb 10 p6)