Flu pandemic preparedness

1 March 2005

Vaccines offer best line of defence to protect the UK population.

Paul Rayner, Chair of the UK Vaccine Industry Group (UVIG), today said that vaccines need to be the cornerstone of pandemic flu preparedness.

"UVIG supports the Government’s recognition that vaccination is the most effective way of limiting the potentially catastrophic impact of a flu pandemic. A comprehensive vaccination programme would be necessary to maximise our ability to prevent ill-health. Anti-viral drugs have a role to play during the time it would take to prepare the vaccines but it is vaccination that offers our best line of defence" he said.

Mr. Rayner added that industry is very keen to work closely with Government to ensure that the UK retains its high global standing as a nation preparing adequately for a flu pandemic.

"Currently, annual flu vaccination is recommended for those aged 65 and over and specific ‘at risk’ groups (see Notes for Editors). However, extending the recommendation to include those aged between 50 to 65 years and children under 2 years of age would help increase annual uptake and allow manufacturers to invest in additional production capacity, helping ensure that demand in a pandemic year could be met."

Flu vaccines are manufactured annually in line with the World Health Organisation’s recommendations on circulating flu virus strains. Inevitably, annual manufacturing capacity reflects usage in non-pandemic years. Europe, for example, has not seen a pandemic since the late 1960s. As a result, UVIG is concerned that there is insufficient capacity to meet the needs of the population during a flu pandemic.

"A flu pandemic occurs, on average, once every 25 years," said Rayner. "As manufacturing capacity exists only to meet normal non-pandemic year demand, we urge the Government to support the industry in helping it increase capacity so that when the inevitable pandemic strikes we are better placed to protect the UK population. An important way the Government could help in this would be for the Department of Health to extend its current recommendations on which people should be given an annual flu vaccination."

"With heightened concern that a flu pandemic is imminent, the Government needs to plan and make provision for sufficient doses of vaccine to be available to help protect the UK population. We hope to work collaboratively with the Department of Health on all issues affecting our preparedness to cope adequately with a flu pandemic."

Notes to editors

Flu vaccination in the UK

The Department of Health currently recommends flu vaccination for all people aged 65 and over and people of any age with:

o Chronic respiratory disease, including asthma
o Chronic heart disease, including angina
o Chronic renal disease
o Diabetes
o Lowered immunity due to disease or treatment
o Anyone living in a residential or nursing home

Approximately, 12 to 13 million doses of flu vaccine are supplied to the UK market each year.

In total, the EU has current capacity to manufacture approximately 90 million doses of flu vaccine each year.

How serious is flu?

- In a usual (non-epidemic) year, death rates from influenza infection or its complications average 3,000 to 4,0001.

- During epidemics, this level is much higher - for example during the epidemic of 1989-90 there were almost 30,000 excess deaths in the UK attributable to flu2.

- The number of people affected in a pandemic year is hard to predict but would be significantly greater.

- Deaths as a direct result of flu infection are often under-reported as flu is often not documented as the cause of death on the death certificate. Instead, the death may be attributed to its consequences e.g. myocardial infarction (heart attack) or pneumonia.

- Every year episodes of flu with cases numbering between 30 and 200 per 100,000 of the population are usual3.

- During the epidemic of the winter of 1989/90 weekly consultation rates for influenza-like illness reached a peak of 583 cases per 100,000 population4. In recent years, the highest rates observed were in 2001 when a peak of 69 cases per 100,000 occurred in mid-February4.

References

1. Immunisation against infectious disease. HMSO. 1996. Section 20.

2. Ashley J, Smith T and Dunnell K. Death in Great Britain associated with the influenza epidemic of 1989/90. Population Trends: 65; 16-20.

3. Health Protection Agency. HPA Weekly National Influenza Report. Report No. 1: 29 September 2004 (week 40).

4. www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/influenza/Activity0405/Graph02.pdf