Can we anticipate what viruses might cause a pandemic andmake a vaccine available?
There is no vaccine ready to protect against pandemic flu.The virus that causes pandemic flu will be new and a vaccine to protect againstit cannot be made until the virus has been identified. Before a pandemic startsit is difficult, if not impossible, to predict what strain will cause it andeven then, predictions may prove wrong, or the predicted virus may have changedenough for a pre-prepared vaccine to be ineffective. ‘Ordinary’ flu vaccines willnot provide protection and having had a flu ‘jab’ in the recent past does notprotect someone.
