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HYDERABAD: The swine flu vaccine trials, also known as bridging trials, will be taken up at Government Chest Hospital, Erragadda by the end of February. The bridging trials are first step towards taking up a vaccine inoculation programme among high-risk groups in the country.
Authorities here have informed that, if the trials succeed, then by April, the first swine flu vaccine could be introduced in the market. Depending on their success, authorities informed that the Indian government could import 15 to 20 lakh doses of swine flu vaccine.
Chest Hospital doctors will also prepare a micro-plan to ascertain the number of targeted risk groups like pregnant women, children, healthcare workers and persons with co-existing morbidities, who would have to be inoculated in the future.
Bridging trials are necessary to find the efficacy of the vaccine, developed in the U.S. and other countries, on Indian patients. Already, officials from the Ministry of Health, New Delhi, have alerted Chest Hospital doctors about the impending vaccine trials in the hospital.
“Bridging trials are needed till indigenous H1N1 vaccine is developed. The trial will help assess safety and tolerance among the diverse population in India. Several other hospitals in the country will also take part in the trials,” State swine flu coordinator K. Subhakar told The Hindu.
Top pharmaceutical companies including GSK, Novartis, Sanofi Pasteur and Baxter have come forward to import the H1N1 vaccine into India. However, swine flu vaccine could only be used in a government-run inoculation programme, on the lines of pulse polio drive, only after successful completion by bridging studies.
Three die In the last fortnight, six H1N1 positive cases were reported, of which three persons died. “The deceased were brought ina very critical condition,” Dr. Subhakar said.
source-http://www.hindu.com

BANGALORE: Violence is a major deterrent for many, more so when you have a business to run.If the fragile political climate in the Andhra Pradesh spills blood on the streets, Hyderabad’s loss may become the gain of neighbouring states, as companies in the process of decision-making are likely to have serious second thoughts about AP in general and Hyderabad in particular.Industry-watchers believe that while short-term political turmoil, which is not new to Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka, may not spell doom for the industries in any state, safety and logistical issues resulting from turmoil could hamper the operations.“Before making an investment, besides other things like the state’s industrial policy, safety of its employees and prospect of running uninterrupted operations also play a major role.The Telangana issue per se is yet to have its fall out.Generally, people would not risk investment in a violent place, for instance Jammu and Kashmir or Assam.There are competitive states around. Tamil Nadu is now very industries-friendly, so is Gujarat,” FKCCI president J Crasta said.On December 11, consumer healthcare company Glaxo Smithkline had to temporarily suspend its operations owing to safety concerns.In another incident, protesters attacked a branch of HSBC bank in the coastal city of Vishakapatnam.The chairman of CII, Karnataka, T Parabhraman feels that Hyderabad, which has a lot of thrust on education in the past apart from a strong industrial culture, has very similar roots like Bangalore.“The core engineering strength of Hyderabad is its primary advantage,” he added.“Whether Hyderabad is a part of Telangana or Andhra, it would not matter.However, foreign companies think more from a safety perspective and the lifestyle the city has to offer,” he said.Meanwhile, Karnataka with its new industrial policies, is aggressively pursuing investments. The state has cleared 46 projects, which are expected to invest Rs 1,086 crore, in its high level committee meeting held in October.In its 54th high level clearance committee meeting, it discussed on giving clearance to proposals from 55 new projects, including projects from about five Hyderabad- based companies.

SOURCE-http://www.expressbuzz.com