WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A White House advisory group said Monday the H1N1 flu is a "serious health threat" and the government should speed up a flu vaccine.
The Obama administration's advisory group on Science and Technology said unless the preparation of a vaccine is speeded up, the vaccine campaign -- now scheduled for October -- may miss the epidemic's peak, Fox News reported.
The council's report, released Monday, said: "Based on the history of influenza pandemics over the past 100 years, (the council) places the current outbreak somewhere between the two extremes that have informed public opinion about influenza. On the one hand, the 2009-H1N1 virus does not thus far seem to show the virulence associated with the devastating pandemic of 1918-19. On the other hand, the 2009-H1N1 virus is a serious threat to our nation and the world."
The council recommends the U.S. Food and Drug Administration "accelerate a decision about the availability of anti-viral drugs for intravenous use," Fox reported.
