Sunday, April 6, 2008

Vietnam to Declare itself Free of Bird Flu - Prensa Latina

Hanoi, Apr 6 (Prensa Latina) Vietnam is on the verge of declaring itself free of deadly bird flu, which threatened to cover the whole country, it succeeded in having positive results in the test of a vaccine to fight the virus, health authorities sources emphasized in Hanoi Sunday.
A report from the National Committee of Fight against the so-called bird flu indicates that more than a dozen of affected territories removed the virus and succeeded in having no bird flu outbreaks, largely due to a national program and good cleaning carried out as to rebuild the devastated poultry industry.
Only three outbreaks between March 25 and April 1st were registered in Quang Nam power station. Scientists say at least five people have died in Vietnam where the disease swept through 57 of its 64 cities and provinces all along current year, and 52 have died since it appeared in this nation.
At the same time, the first test in humans of a new national vaccine against the N5H1 threw positive results. A dozen of inoculated volunteers, all researchers, continue in good health condition after the second dose.
The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology considered that the product made by Byproducts and Vaccines Company No 1 did not cause side effects since its first application more than a month ago.
The older person in the group is a woman, 57, and the youngest is a man, 25. The evolution of the sample allows trusting the quality of the vaccine and its use in a national program of immunization.
The dosage for the clinical test varies from 3.75 to 45 micrograms and people are injected twice with 28 days of interval, Doctor, Epidemiologist and Virologist Nguyen Tuyet Nga specified.
Forty-two out of Vietnam's 57 cities and provinces where bird flu outbreaks were reported have declared themselves free from the disease. The remaining 15 have met all the conditions and are expected to make similar announcements, Nga said.

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