Tuesday, October 26, 2004, 10:34:24 PM, William Ball wrote: WB> One simply died. Rather, hundreds of thousands died around 1918. WB> Many did not after the development of the vaccine, though now that WB> friends of ours have deemed the production of same to be rather WB> unprofitable, I take it "friends of ours" refers to US drug companies? That was what the item Julie posted seemed to be saying. Illinois is trying to buy 200,000 doses of the vaccine, through a UK wholesaler, from Aventis-Pasteur. It's made in France for Canada and Europe. Its properties are identical to those of the vaccine Aventis supplies you with now. But "Federal officials" are unhappy about its being bought for the US because it's made differently. They are also unhappy about its being bought from a wholesaler. Illinois also wants to buy a rather smaller amount (60,000?) direct from Aventis in France, and has asked the FDA to inspect that plant. (Same vaccine.) It costs $7 a dose. GlaxoSmithKline, a UK company (alas), is interested in getting into 'flu vaccines. WB> Here's to the cessation of this political haggling, come what may: the real political point is the failure of the US to appoint more than 2 suppliers -- I don't know who's reponsible for that but it's presumably been the case for some time. -- Judy Evans, Cardiff, UK mailto:judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html