A Memphis hospital attempting to speed vaccine production has met with frustration due to H1N1’s foreign origins and unusual gene mix, doctors said.
The St. Jude research team is trying to speed up the process by injecting chicken eggs with H1N1 and other viruses in an attempt to create hybrids or mutations that might make the virus grow faster, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Sunday.
H1N1 is the result of a re-assortment of genes from swine, birds and humans, with pigs serving as the mixing vessel
for the flu virus, scientists said.
We’ve never seen this particular blend of virus genes before,
Dr. Richard Webby of the department of infectious diseases at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital said.
Some of H1N1’s gene-carrying RNA came into North America recently from Eurasian pigs, which is a reversal of viruses’ ordinary following of swine export routes from the United States to other countries, the news service said.
That was a big surprise,
said Dr. Michael Shaw, associate director of laboratory science in Atlanta’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s influenza department.
Because the H1N1 virus grows half as quickly as many other flu viruses, the federal government expects only approximately 15 million doses to be available as a first batch to be released next month. There is a projected production ultimately of around 200 million doses, the news service reported.
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