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A safe and effective H1N1 swine flu vaccine was created and produced in record time but it still wasn’t ready when the U.S. pandemic peaked in early fall of 2009. Even so, by mid-December 2009, 28 million adults (13% of U.S. adults) and 18 million children (24% of U.S. children) had received the vaccine.

When seasonal flu vaccination begins for the 2010-2011 flu season, the regular flu vaccine will contain the 2009 H1N1 swine flu vaccine (as well as vaccines against the older H3N2 type A and type B flu bugs).

But the 2009 H1N1 flu bug is still here, popping up sporadically across the country. Moreover, there’s no guarantee it will wait until winter to start spreading again. If it starts early in 2010 as it did in 2009 it will get here before the seasonal vaccine is ready.

Swine Flu Vaccine in India launched against H1N1 influenza virus which feared whole world with its increasing death rates. This Swine Flu Vaccine unveiled with health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Swine Flu Vaccine created by Zydus Cadilla from an H1N1 strain given by WHO, the single-shot vaccine called Vaxiflu-S will cost a maximum of Rs 350.

H1N1 swine flu has killed more than 18,000 people and affected some 214 countries since the virus emerged in Mexico and the US in April 2009. In India, over 1,500 have died.

Cadilla is ready with 4.5 lakh doses of the vaccine but it will only be given by chemists against prescription. However, Cadilla’s vaccine has some limitations as of now. It can only be used by people aged between 18-60 and can’t be used on small children or pregnant women who are believed to be at high risk of getting infected.

The Swine Flu Vaccine, with a shelf life of a year from date of manufacture, will provide protection only for one year. Also, the inactivated vaccine is egg-based and cannot be used by those allergic to eggs.

However, the Swine Flu Vaccine has been found to be effective and safe with minor side-effects like pain in the area of administration.

As swine influenza is rarely fatal to pigs, little treatment beyond rest and supportive care is required. Instead veterinary efforts are focused on preventing the spread of the virus throughout the farm, or to other farms. Vaccination and animal management techniques are most important in these efforts. Antibiotics are also used to treat this disease, which although they have no effect against the influenza virus, do help prevent bacterial pneumonia and other secondary infections in influenza-weakened herds.

If a person becomes sick with swine flu, antiviral drugs can make the illness milder and make the patient feel better faster. They may also prevent serious flu complications. For treatment, antiviral drugs work best if started soon after getting sick (within 2 days of symptoms). Beside antivirals, supportive care at home or in hospital, focuses on controlling fevers, relieving pain and maintaining fluid balance, as well as identifying and treating any secondary infections or other medical problems. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the use of Tamiflu (oseltamivir) or Relenza (zanamivir) for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine influenza viruses; however, the majority of people infected with the virus make a full recovery without requiring medical attention or antiviral drugs. The virus isolates in the 2009 outbreak have been found resistant to amantadine and rimantadine.

In the U.S., on April 27, 2009, the FDA issued Emergency Use Authorizations to make available Relenza and Tamiflu antiviral drugs to treat the swine influenza virus in cases for which they are currently unapproved. The agency issued these EUAs to allow treatment of patients younger than the current approval allows and to allow the widespread distribution of the drugs, including by non-licensed volunteers.

Fortunately, there’s still plenty of vaccine out there. Everyone, but particularly those at risk of serious flu complications (see below), should get the vaccine. And except for some places that charge a small administrative fee, it’s still free.

The H1N1 swine flu vaccine, both the shots and the nasal spray, are made the same way as the seasonal flu vaccine.

Every year or so, the seasonal vaccine which includes a component based on the seasonal H1N1 virus is tweaked to match a flu virus that has changed its genetic makeup. The same kind of tweaking resulted in the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

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