Washington Editor

WASHINGTON - Saying there are no influenza vaccine supply worries this year, federal health officials this week urged all Americans to get a flu shot, although others have charged that longstanding distribution issues could hamper widespread adoption.

"There's no reason for anyone to delay," Mike Leavitt, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said during a conference call, "or to go without their annual flu shot."

Statistics show that seasonal flu kills about 36,000 people in the U.S. every year and results in about 200,000 annual hospitalizations. It also hampers school and work attendance.

The flu vaccine's effectiveness ranges from 70 percent to 90 percent in healthy adults under 65 years old, said Anthony Fauci, the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The flu season remains at its early stages, so the severity of this year's infection is difficult to predict, though immunization against it is being emphasized as front-line defense for everyone. That message is a break from past government communications on flu vaccines, which public health officials recommended initially just for those most at risk of flu infection - the young, old and sick.

So unlike last year, when supply concerns arose, this year 70 million doses - more if all producers hit their estimate - are expected from four manufactures. And that dosage figure is likely to grow, depending on the final volume shipped by Chiron Corp., the company at the center of last year's vaccine shortage.

"The supply is good," Leavitt said, although he admitted that some local health providers "may not have yet received their supply."

Julie Gerberding, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said such distribution issues could be attributable to unfilled purchase orders from Chiron, which was "slower out of the gate" with its initial shipments this year in an effort to ensure manufacturing quality to avoid last year's missteps, or because the other manufacturers have yet to fill all their orders.

Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association in Washington, told BioWorld Today that such issues often result because bulk buyers such as drugstore chains or large employers get their orders first, often per contractual terms, while individual physician practices receive orders later because they buy smaller lots.

"Situations where individual clinicians lack vaccines will improve as more vaccine is shipped over the next several weeks," Gerberding said. "Remember, it's early in the season and this is the same pattern of shipping vaccine that we see every year, and over time we'll be able to catch up in a more uniform distribution."

Chiron, of Emeryville, Calif., has said it might produce up to 18 million doses for the U.S. this year. Other suppliers include Sanofi Pasteur, of Lyon, France, which will supply 60 million; GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, which will make 8 million; and MedImmune Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., which will produce 3 million. All four manufactures continue to ship their vaccines, Gerberding said, adding that "we anticipate they will continue to do so throughout the season."

Benjamin called for the creation of a national vaccine program for adults, similar to that in place for children, to further ensure market stability. Also, a "broader vaccine capacity" could help give the U.S. an ability to make vaccines for potential pandemics.

Another benefit flu shots have relative to pandemic flu is behavioral. While getting a vaccine against seasonal flu confers no physical protection against bird flu, Benjamin said getting an annual shot becomes part of one's medical behavior and establishes a routine.

In addition to encouraging the flu vaccine, the government health officials also encouraged those who get infected with seasonal flu to contact their clinician about antivirals, of which four have FDA approval for use in the U.S.