More than 1,000 volunteer to test swine flu vaccine in King County

By JOHN STANG
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

More than 1,000 people have volunteered for the 268 adult Seattle-area slots to receive an experimental swine flu the vaccine.

Meanwhile, Seattle Children's Hospital might begin recruiting kids Aug. 19 to receive the vaccine -- if federal researchers give a green light next week to the tests for people 17 and younger.

If given the go-ahead, Children's Hospital will likely seek about 120 volunteers, said hospital spokeswoman Teri Thomas. The hospital's hot line for potential volunteers is 206-884-1100.

Seattle is one of eight places nationwide where the federal government is testing a new H1N1 vaccine on roughly 600 adults.

Tentative nationwide numbers for children's test vaccine recipients is about 600 in likely fewer than eight cities.

The tests come as public health officials issue new warnings about the flu and an expected second wave of infections.

Group Health Cooperative began giving the vaccines to adults Friday. It and the University of Washington are sifting through volunteers to administer the remainder of the 268 vaccinations, said Group Health spokeswoman Joan DeClaire.

The test vaccines are roughly the same as current influenza vaccines, only with different disease strains within them.

Recipients will have their blood drawn before receiving their first vaccinations, again eight days later, and again at the 21-day point when they will receive a second vaccination. Blood will be drawn again eight days and 21 days after the second vaccinations, said Dr. Lisa Jackson, a researcher at Group Health.

The blood tests will look at the antibody levels in the blood, which will determine whether the new vaccines work as intended, Jackson said.

The blood work should provide a good indication in a few weeks on whether the new vaccine is good, although it will likely take about seven months for all the final reports are finished, she said.

Jackson speculated that if the initial results are good, the new vaccine might be available by late fall.

So far, two people have died this summer from swine flu in King County -- a young girl and person in his or her 70s.