Swine flu vaccine arrives Jordan today

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) The first shipment of H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine will arrive in the Kingdom this evening, Ministry of Health officials said on Tuesday.

According to Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) Director General Mohammad Rawashdeh, the administration will take two to three weeks to test samples of the 100,000 vaccines before they are allowed to be administered.

But, he added, "the administration might expedite swine flu vaccine tests to inoculate pilgrims before the Hajj season".

"We asked the manufacturing company to provide us with documents indicating that the vaccine is safe and has been tried in other developed countries," Rawashdeh told the press yesterday.

Osama Braiwish, head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals' Jordan office, pointed out that health officials in Egypt have administered the same vaccination with no side effects reported.

The vaccine has also been used in the US and some European countries, Braiwish said, stressing that the company will accept responsibility for any potential side effects.

"We pledged to the ministry that, in case of any side effects, the company will be responsible, except in cases related to improper storage," Braiwish told The Jordan Times in a phone interview yesterday.

Meanwhile, the JFDA approved on Monday the manufacture of a generic brand of Tamiflu by local pharmaceutical companies.

The new product, "Flufir", was given priority registration to supply the local market and will be sold in a 75mg, ten-capsule package for JD26, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The administration also allowed private hospitals to purchase Tamiflu from the manufacturing company, Roche. Previously, only public hospitals were allowed to purchase the drug.

Meanwhile, the epidemic and emergency committee on Tuesday decided to maintain its current H1N1 treatment strategy, according to a Ministry of Health statement.

In its statement, the ministry said that the ratio of swine flu cases and deaths in the Kingdom comply with global figures, underlining that current protocols are in accordance with the World Health Organization's (WHO) regulations.

Under the current strategy, rather than hospitalizing each case, patients are divided into three classifications in order to prioritize who is admitted and receives treatment. The first group includes those who suffer from respiratory diseases and are admitted to the hospital. The second group, people at high risk of developing complications including children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with chronic diseases, are to receive treatment at home.

The third classification is of suspected cases - those who exhibit swine flu symptoms and are later proven not to have the virus are not hospitalized or given anti-viral medication.

According to the latest figures released by Health Ministry, the Kingdom registered 2,217 swine flu cases and seven related deaths since the registration of the first case last June. According to WHO figures, more than 500,000 cases have been reported across the world with 5,700 deaths.

By Khetam Malkawi