HUNGARY H1N1 UPDATE: CLINICAL TRIALS OF VACCINE BEGIN;

UNCLAS BUDAPEST 000607


DEPT FOR OES/IHB and EUR/NCE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KFLU TBIO PREL ASEC HU
SUBJECT: HUNGARY H1N1 UPDATE: CLINICAL TRIALS OF VACCINE BEGIN;
SZIGET MUSIC FESTIVAL CONCLUDES WITH SMALL NUMBER OF NEW H1N1 CASES

REF: (A) BUDAPEST 322 (B) BUDAPEST 399 (C) BUDAPEST 524 (D) BUDAPEST
572


1. The Hungarian Pharmaceutical company Omninvest has announced
that clinical trials of its H1N1 vaccine have begun. In an August
14 press interview, Omninvest's Director, Ferenc Zimonyi, said the
tests, taking place at clinics in the towns of Veszprem and
Pilisvorosvar, had begun that day. They will focus on three age
groups: adults (testing underway); children and youth ages three to
eighteen years; and infants and young children ages six months to
three years (testing for all under age 18 to begin at the end of
August). The participating clinics will send all test results to
the National Pharmaceutical Institute which will then issue a
decision on distributing the vaccine for public use.


2. In an August 17 interview with the Hungarian daily
Vilaggazdasag, Dr Ferenc Falus, Hungary's Chief Medical Officer,
said GOH planning is based on an assumption that the next H1N1 wave
would arrive in Hungary 4-6 weeks after its appearance in France and
Great Britain. Dr. Falus' office has responsibility for developing
a logistical plan to administer the expected 6 million H1N1 vaccine
doses (as well as the 1.3 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine
expected to be given this autumn). While an official timeline is
not yet ready, some doctors, in comments to the press, have
speculated that it would take 5 weeks to administer all
vaccinations.


3. Separately, the annual Sziget Rock Festival, which drew about
400,000 people from all over Europe, took place in Budapest August
12-17. Contrary to some concerns raised prior to the festival that
the venue could pose a risk for spreading H1N1, only a very small
number of confirmed or suspected cases were reported. The Festival
organizers, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, deployed 400
health professionals to the festival grounds, and set up an on-site
clinic specializing in respiratory problems as well as a
round-the-clock pharmacy. In an August 16 statement, the Ministry
of Health's forensic expert reported that 11 possible H1N1 cases had
been detected at Sziget. Of this, two were confirmed positive, two
were confirmed negative, and seven specimens are still being
examined at the National Epidemiologic Center. All were foreign
visitors and the patients had been hospitalized for medical
observation.


4. To date the Public Health Authority has registered 125 confirmed
cases of H1N1 in Hungary, with one death.

Levine