The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday denied a report that the specific pathogen-free (SPF) eggs used by Adimmune Corp (國光生技) to produce A(H1N1) influenza vaccines were substandard.
“The eggs are clean and qualified for vaccine production. The chickens which laid these eggs were purchased from the US,” said Chen Hui-fang (陳惠芳), director of the Bureau of Food and Drug Analysis’ technology development center.
Chen’s comments came after the Chinese-language Next Magazine reported that Adimmune had purchased eggs from two local farms that may not be qualified for vaccine production.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
Speaking during a press conference at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday afternoon, Chen said that one of the two farms named in the story was a contractor for Adimmune, but the other was not.
Inspectors from the bureau had visited the two farms and inspected their SPF eggs on Aug. 20 and Aug. 28, and eggs from the farms met WHO standards for vaccine production, she said.
“I assure you that the eggs are fine,” Chen said.
In related news, CDC Director-General Steve Kuo (郭旭崧) said that overweight people would be included in the ninth category in its priority list for receiving the swine flu vaccine when it becomes available.
“Overweight people will be put in the same category as people over 25 with heart problems, liver problems, kidney problems or diabetes. However, we still have to discuss the exact definition of overweight and will announce our decision later,” Kuo said.
The CDC also confirmed the nation’s 11th death from swine flu. The victim, a 46-year-old man from Keelung, died on Aug. 31. It was only confirmed that he died from swine flu on Sept. 2, and the result was made public yesterday morning.
The man was taken to Taipei’s Tri-service General Hospital after a car accident. Doctors found that the man had a fever when he arrived and X-rays showed that he was suffering from mild pneumonia. The hospital still registered him as a swine flu case, although a preliminary screening test turned out to be negative.
The Keelung City Department of Health said that the man died of pneumonia and multiple organ failure on Aug. 31. The CDC confirmed that he was infected with swine flu on Sept. 2, but prosecutors did not issue a death certificate until Tuesday night.
Kuo said there was no delay in the handling of this case.
“There is no evidence to suggest that his infection was related to his car accident, or that he was infected after he arrived at the hospital. The delay [in the announcement of his death] was because his death had to be certified by prosecutors as it involved an accident,” Kuo said.
Meanwhile, the Kaohsiung City Government yesterday decided to spend its secondary reserve fund on increasing the city government’s reserves of Tamiflu.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) told reporters that the NT$20 million (US$611,000) fund would be spent on procuring the drug for about 23,000 residents.
Chen urged the public not to panic over the threat of an H1N1 epidemic, adding that the city’s Health Bureau had established special outpatient services for people who have developed symptoms similar to those of the flu at eight medical institutions in the city, including the Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, the Kaohsiung Municipal Min-Sheng Hospital, the Kaohsiung Municipal United Hospital’s branch near the Kaohsiung Fine Arts Museum and the Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Education statistics showed that 251 classes at 195 schools had been suspended as a result of H1N1 outbreaks. Up to 5,400 students had caught different types of influenza, with 3,100 being primary school students, the statistics showed.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
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