Experts disagree over who should get avian influenza vaccine

If avian influenza spreads among British poultry and other livestock, farm workers may need the H5N1 vaccine currently on order for NHS staff, an expert has told the BMJ. Last week, the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, announced that she had plans to order more than two million doses of one of the as yet unlicensed vaccines against the H5N1 flu virus, even though a flu pandemic is likely to be caused by a hybrid strain of human and H5N1 bird flu virus.

It is hoped that two doses of a bird flu vaccine, several of which are being tested and which are expected to be ready early next year, might offer some protection to …