UK Children Could be Given Untested Swine Flu Vaccine

The swine flu vaccine which will be offered to 12 million children in the UK may not have been tested on infants by the time the first batches arrive.
Pharmaceutical companies manufacturing the jabs do not have any paediatric safety data for the drugs, which could be distributed to children in the autumn.
The first consignment of the vaccine is due to arrive at the end of this month but drugs firms have only just begun trials on adults.
Trials on children may not start for a few weeks.

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Legal Immunity Set For Swine Flu Vaccine Makers

The last time the government embarked on a major vaccine campaign against a new swine flu, thousands filed claims contending they suffered side effects from the shots. This time, the government has already taken steps to head that off.

Vaccine makers and federal officials will be immune from lawsuits that result from any new swine flu vaccine, under a document signed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, government health officials said Friday.

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H1N1 Swine Flu Appears Similar to 1918 Pandemic Virus; WHO Recommends Vaccines Use Live (Attenuated) Influenza

Two shocking bits of news about the H1N1 swine flu virus emerged this week. The first is that the widely-circulating swine flu virus may be a lot more dangerous than people have so far been told: It appears to resemble the 1918 pandemic virus in the fact that it is capable of embedding itself deep in lung tissue and causing deadly infections. This is very different from the more common "seasonal flu" which does not replicate in the lungs.

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