Swine flu vaccines produced by Chinese firm

China's first batch of vaccines for influenza A (H1N1), better known as swine flu, have been produced by a pharmaceutical firm, an official said on Monday.

The vaccines are expected to hit the market in September after safety tests in laboratories and clinical tests, said an official of Hualan Biological Engineering Inc.

The company received the seed virus from the World Health Organization (WHO) lab June 4.

According to the WHO website, over 44,000 people have been affected by swine flu all over the world and there have been 180 deaths.

World Health Organization report for Swine flu

The World Health Organization says the global tally of deaths from swine flu has increased by 51 to 231.
WHO says most of the latest deaths occurred in the United States.
It says Colombia, Chile and Canada have also reported fatal cases.
WHO says the number of reported cases reached 52,160 on Monday. This is an increase of 7,873 since Friday.
The global body says Algeria, Bangladesh, Brunei, Fiji and Slovenia reported their first cases over the weekend.
Earlier this month, WHO declared swine flu a "moderate" pandemic that would likely continue for 1-2 years.
The World Health Organisation said more than 50,000 swine flu cases had now been reported worldwide, with 231 deaths, mostly in Mexico and the US.
It declared swine flu a pandemic earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Montenegro's health minister said the country's first case of swine flu has been confirmed in a student who returned from the US.
Health Minister Miodrag Radunovic said the 19-year-old student returned to Montenegro on Saturday after taking part in an exchange programme in the US
He declined to name the student but said he was feeling better after flying to Montenegro's capital Podgorica from New Jersey via Munich in Germany and Belgrade in Serbia.

Swine flu case in Pune

Pune has its first case of H1N1 virus (swine flu), a 24-year-old software engineer who hails from Uttar Pradesh and stays in the city. The case was confirmed by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) on Monday evening.
The engineer was detected with swine flu symptoms and had been quarantined at the Naidu Hospital since Saturday. His throat swabs were sent to the NIV on Sunday. Dr M S Chadda, Deputy Director, NIV, when contacted, confirmed that the samples had tested positive for H1N1 virus.
The techie had visited New Jersey and flown to Mumbai via London. He came to Pune and then went to Lucknow and Delhi before returning to the city on June 18. He has been travelling since June 13. After he showed swine flu symptoms, he volunteered to be admitted to the hospital on Saturday, said Dr D B Barathe, superintendent, Naidu Hospital.
Even as the state and local health officials were officially waiting for a confirmation from the Centre to declare the patient positive with the swine flu virus, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) medical officer Dr R R Pardeshi said Tamiflu medication will be given to the patient.

Swine flu reach in China

AUTHORITIES in southern China closed an elementary school after 30 students there fell ill from swine flu, Chinese state media reported, as infections from the virus continued to climb across the Asia-Pacific region.
The children, all from a primary school in Guangdong province's Dongguan city, fell ill with A(H1N1) flu at the end of last week, the provincial health department said in a statement posted on its website late on Sunday.

Authorities closed Shipai Central Primary School for a week, and have quarantined those in close contact with the patients. The health department said the students' symptoms were mild, but warned the risk of a partial epidemic was looming in the province. Guangdong neighbours Hong Kong, where many schools have been closed following H1N1 flu outbreaks.
The students were all reported in stable condition since their illness was mild. Authorities decided to close the school, which has 1,314 students, for a week after the cases were reported.
China's state broadcaster reported on Sunday that 58 more people were confirmed with swine flu, bringing the total on the mainland to 414.
The World Health Organisation has declared swine flu a pandemic.