The World Health Organisation (WHO) said Friday there was no need for a massive vaccine campaign against the bird flu virus (H5N1) because it has not been proven that it would become a pandemic.
"There is no evidence available that would say that we should begin vaccinating populations across the board with H5N1 at this point in order to prevent a pandemic because it is not known what may cause a pandemic," WHO Assistant Director General David Heymann told reporters.H5N1, which has caused 209 deaths out 340 afflicted since 2003, is not the only virus that could start a flu pandemic, he added. Other viruses, such as H5, H7 or H9, pose the same threat, he said.
Heymann said many countries are considering a widespread vaccination campaign as part of a 'first protection' barrier, which would act as an insurance plan for the population.
However, he recalled that the swine flu vaccinations in 1976 in the United States had a lot of side effects.
"So a country would have to weight whether or not that insurance policy of getting a lower level of immunity against a virus which could cause a pandemic is as important as the side effect which might occur from that vaccine," he said.
Earlier this month WHO responded to the case of a father and son in China dying from H5N1 earlier this month. There were three possible explanations for the father-son case: either they were infected by the same animal, by transmission between them, or by exposure to two different infected animals.
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Source-AFP
LIN/M
