Hamburger Helper for H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine?

If you live in the United States, the answer is "No."  However, both Canada and Europe have agreed to include adjuvants with their H1N1 swine flu vaccine.  Adjuvants are a strange bit of science, a "witches brew" according to someone quoted in this New York Times article.  Adjuvants (pronounced AD-joo-vants) are like the helper in Hamburger Helper - they make the vaccine stretch farther, but they also make it better.

Adjuvants were first discovered in the 1920s, when a veterinarian discovered that diphtheria shots worked better on horses when the vaccine was given at a spot which happened to be inflamed.  The veterinarian experimented with several odd substances (including bread crumbs and tapioca) trying to get an inflammation response.  

Aluminum salts (or alum) were soon discovered to be a powerful and useful adjuvant.  Alum is one of the most popular adjuvants used in the United States.  Including alum with the vaccine lets manufacturers put less of the vaccine itself into each shot - which helps keep costs down.  (Or, the cynical might say, helps keep profits up.)

Flash forward to flu season 2009: it appears that we may have a swine flu vaccine shortage for the developing world.  Laboratories have been racing to produce a vaccine against the H1N1 swine flu virus, and it is in hot demand as you might expect.  There will be plenty of vaccine for industrialized nations like the United States and Canada, but developing nations may get the short end of the stick.

Part of the urgency of this issue arose from the original understanding that each person would need two flu shots in order to get immunity from the H1N1 swine flu.  However, recent studies show that this may not be the case, and the World Health Organization is backing away from the "two shot" requirement somewhat.

Nevertheless, it's reasonable to assume that there will be some supply issues and shortages as we head into the flu season.  Under such a situation, it is reasonable to consider using adjuvants to help stretch out the world's supply of flu vaccine.  Naturally, many people are upset by this idea, particularly since it seems to pit your own personal health against that of a faceless person in the third world.

Americans are also very leery on discussion of adjuvants, thanks largely to the anti-vaccination crowd who have either raised the alarm or cried wolf and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars, depending on your perspective.  I dare say the idea of stretching H1N1 swine flu vaccine with an additive would not be received well here in the States, to say the least.

Before you dismiss the idea of adjuvants in H1N1 swine flu vaccine, remember that so far swine flu has not been nearly as communicable or lethal as researchers originally feared.  This is largely because the vaccine has not evolved as quickly as people originally thought, and we have gotten a lucky break on that.  However, the influenza virus evolves and changes when it's infecting a person (obviously).  So the fewer infected people worldwide, the lower the chance that a lethal "Spanish flu pandemic" type variation will emerge.