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Re-activateIt currently takes about five to six months to manufacture and test a new flu vaccine. So the World Health Organization says that there probably won't be a vaccine against the virus responsible for the swine (H1N1) flu until next fall. That will help if there is a second wave to the current outbreak.
But it's small comfort to those worried about the disease now. And flu-vaccine production doesn't always go as planned, in part because the technology used to develop vaccines hasn't changed much in the past 50 years, as explained in an article by Maryn McKenna for the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota.
McKenna, who's covered the threat of pandemic infections for years (and maintains her own useful blog, Superbug), writes that some experts worry that there may be delays in preparing a swine flu vaccine in a timely manner. "New manufacturing plants with faster, cleaner technology are in the works," writes McKenna, "but are not scheduled to come online in the United States for two more years."
—Joel Keehn, senior editor
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