September 24, 2009
On September 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it approved four vaccines against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. The vaccines will be distributed nationally after the initial lots become available, which is expected within the next four weeks.

The vaccines are made by CSL Limited, MedImmune LLC, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Limited, and sanofi pasteur Inc. All four firms manufacture the H1N1 vaccines using the same processes, which have a long record of producing safe seasonal influenza vaccines.

In the ongoing clinical studies, the vaccines have been well tolerated. Potential side effects of the H1N1 vaccines are expected to be similar to those of seasonal flu vaccines.

To read the entire FDA news release online, please go to: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm182399.htm

Note: The October 2009 issue of the AAP Pediatric Coding Newsletter includes an important electronic-only article on coding for novel H1N1 influenza (swine flu) immunization services. The article is under the "News and Events" column on the left side of the site's home page (you do not need to be an AAP Pediatric Coding Newsletter subscriber to view this article).