Embassies stockpile flu drugs
Sep 12, 2009 04:30 AM
Joanna Smith
OTTAWA–Canada is strengthening emergency stockpiles of antiviral drugs at its overseas missions so embassy and consular officials can get the same treatments for the swine flu pandemic as fellow citizens back home.
The federal government is buying 1,750 doses of the inhalable antiviral drug zanamivir (brand name Relenza) from GlaxoSmithKline Inc. for the foreign affairs department, according to a public procurement notice.
The contract gives the government the option to buy another 245,000 doses in the next two years for other departments.
Government contracts generally give a variety of vendors a chance to compete, but since this contract asks specifically for Relenza – which only GlaxoSmithKline can provide – firms that make other antiviral drugs are left out on this one.
That includes Roche Canada and its oseltamivir (brand name Tamiflu).
Rodney Moore, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said there have been stockpiles abroad since 2005 but, until now, only of Tamiflu.
Those drugs are expiring next February and as the government refreshes the supply it is also diversifying it to resemble the mix found in emergency stockpiles across Canada, which contain Tamiflu, Relenza and an older and inexpensive flu drug called amantadine.
“The choice of antiviral is based on the medical professional’s analysis of each person’s individual need and no particular antiviral is `favoured’ over another,” said Moore.
Moore said the Tamiflu and amantadine were ordered earlier this year.
Canada began adjusting its stockpiles this spring in response to concerns the H1N1 influenza virus was developing resistance to Tamiflu.
Chief Public Health Officer Dr. David Butler-Jones said most stockpiles around the world contain Tamiflu because it’s a pill, which makes it easier to administer and store than Relenza, which is inhaled.
http://www.thestar.com/newsfeatures/swineflu/article/694722
12/Sep/09
S. Korea Reports 5th Death From Flu
A South Korean woman infected with influenza A died Saturday, raising the local death toll from the H1N1 virus to five.
The 73-year-old woman, who suffered from high blood pressure, was presumed to have died from complications stemming from the new flu, Yonhap News Agency reported quoting health officials.
The woman, who recently visited the United States, was confirmed infected with influenza A on Aug. 25, after showing symptoms of high fever and coughing. The exact cause of the death was still under investigation.
On Aug. 15, South Korea reported its first H1N1 virus-related death — a man in his 50s who had recently returned from a trip to Thailand.
South Korea reported its first new flu outbreak in early May, with the number of infections reaching more than 7,000. Most have fully recovered, but health experts say the disease could spread at a more rapid pace in the fall.
The government earlier said that it will vaccinate around 10 million people against the virus by the end of this year. Full-scale vaccination will begin in November and aims to inoculate 27 percent of the nation’s 49 million people by February next year, it added.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/09/113_51718.html