US
health officials are considering buying thousands of doses
of flu vaccine from Britain because it is running short of
supplies. Parts of the US have been affected by the Fujian
flu strain, which has also hit the UK.
At least 20 children have already died from the flu in Colorado,
New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
In a normal year 36,000 people catch flu and die, and experts
believe those numbers could double this year.
The
US needs extra vaccine supplies
However,
the BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says experts believe it
is still too early to declare that an epidemic is under way.
"We're
having a flu season that's particularly early and particularly
severe" --- Eduardo Sanchez, Commissioner of
Health for the State of Texas
The UK Department
of Health said the US would talk directly to suppliers and any
deal would not affect NHS patients.
The main manufacturers of flu vaccine in the US say they have
already distributed all their supplies - around 80 million doses
- to doctors, hospitals and clinics.
But states are reporting they are already running low, and stocks
could run out within days.
Last year, flu-vaccine manufacturers in America overproduced
and had to scrap 12 million doses of the vaccine.
But this year, a combination of more cases of flu and an increase
in the numbers choosing to have the flu jab has led to the shortage,
experts said.
Alternative supplies
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it was
considering approaching the Chiron Corporation, which manufactures
flu vaccine in Britain, in a bid to access extra supplies.
Its director Dr Julie Gerberding, said the British vaccine uses
the same formula as those produced in America.
She said Chiron had about a half million doses of flu vaccine
in the UK that might be available.
Dr Gerberding said: "We're aware that they have vaccine, and
we're exploring whether or not we would be able to clear that
vaccine for use in the United States in time to have any impact
on this year's outbreak."
She said the CDC was working with the US Food and Drugs Administration
to explore ways of accessing supplies of vaccine from outside
the US.
NHS 'unaffected'
Eduardo Sanchez, Commissioner of Health for the State of Texas,
told the BBC: "It's not usual to look abroad for supplies.
"In the US, we tried to encourage more of our population to
get their influenza vaccine, and we have been successful in
doing that.
"But at the same time, by coincidence, we're having a flu season
that's particularly early and particularly severe."
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health told BBC News Online
that any deal the US came to with Chiron would not affect the
stocks already set aside for NHS patients.
Rob Budge, a spokesman for Chiron UK, which has already supplied
around 38m doses to the US, told BBC News Online: "This is not
taking away from UK supplies. It is extra material we have already
produced."
And he said even if the deal with the US went ahead, it would
not mean the UK could not access extra supplies if it too ran
short.
"The US is quite a different marketplace. There are only two
major suppliers for a very large market.
"In the UK, there are twice as many suppliers for a smaller
market, so if more vaccine was needed, there would be more people
to go to."
BBC
News
Don't
you find it strange, that we won't allow drugs from Canada
into the U.S. however, it's ok to receive drugs from other
countries like Britain, Germany etc.. ? --- Dr. Bob Martin
US
health officials are considering buying thousands of doses
of flu vaccine from Britain because it is running short of
supplies. Parts of the US have been affected by the Fujian
flu strain, which has also hit the UK. 
