According to the World Health Organization, we are now in the post-pandemic phase of H1N1. Good riddance. While the virus remains, the threat of another widespread outbreak has passed, says WHO Director-General Margaret Chan.

A few weeks back we posted a list of the companies that were manufacturing H1N1 vaccines, and since that time many of them have been approved, either in the U.S. or abroad. Here's an update:

And the first company to cross the finish line . . . is, unofficially, Protein Sciences Corp. of Connecticut, according to company CEO Dan Adams. What follows is the press release from AFP:

A US company that was awarded a 35-million-dollar contract
to develop an influenza vaccine using insect cell technology has produced a
first batch against (A)H1N1 flu, company boss Dan Adams said.

When a real or potential public health crisis such as the recent swine flu/Mexican flu/H1N1 pandemic hits, it brings to the fore challenging public and private ethical dilemmas that would normally lie fallow. For example, how can the media provide as much information to the public as it can about a pandemic, without going overboard and fomenting panic among the citizenry?

An excellent article from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) outlines the key hurdles in developing a swine flu vaccine and quotes WHO and CDC authorities as saying that any acceleration of development is unlikely, thanks to myriad hurdles and challenges, particularly the inefficiency of producing seed strain via embryonated chicken eggs.

The Drug Information Association has postponed its May 13-15 Latin America Regulatory Conference in Mexico City in response to the swine flu outbreak. View the media advisory here. Stay tuned to the DIA home page for updates and news about rescheduling.