Beefing Up the Vaccine

With an estimated 5,000,000 Asian flu cases already reported in the U.S., Surgeon General Leroy Burney of the U.S. Public Health Service predicted last week that the nation faces new epidemics in the next eight to ten weeks in areas not hitherto stricken. After that, he hoped, "we will be going down hill." So far, with nearly 400 deaths attributed to Asian flu and its complications, the death rate is a minute fraction of 1%.

Because the vaccine, containing 200 virus units per shot, has given protection to no more than 81% of those inoculated (in some tests, it is suspected, far fewer), Burney's advisers decided that it should be beefed up to 400 units per shot. Of the old vaccine, 45 million doses had been released by this week; November will see 27 million more produced. After that, double-strength vaccine will go on the market.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.