Only one dose of vaccine is needed for protection against pandemic H1N1 flu and the jabs have so far proved to be safe, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said last week. Health experts have been debating whether one or two shots are necessary to protect against H1N1, also known as swine flu. The number of doses required is key to estimating how many vaccines are needed in total.

"All the reports received to date following vaccination - either in clinical trials or in mass vaccination campaigns - have shown that the safety profile of these pandemic vaccines is good and is very similar to the one which is known for seasonal influenza vaccine," said WHO expert Marie-Paule Kieny.

Source: Reuters

Children dying of H1N1

Swine flu has caused at least 19 more children's deaths - the largest one-week increase since the pandemic started in April, health officials said last week. At least 114 children have died from swine flu complications since the spring, up from 95 reported a week earlier, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Meanwhile, the US government has decided to release the last of its stockpile of liquid Tamiflu for children because of reported shortages of the swine flu treatment. Enough to treat some 234,000 children is being released.

"We didn't see a reason to keep it in reserve when we have so much illness in children now," CDC Director Dr Thomas Frieden said at a news conference, recently.

Source: StoneHearth/CDC