Vaccine trials off to fast start for pandemic flu

Dozens of adults are enrolled in a flurry of fast-track flu vaccine trials that will grow to include 11,131 adults and 5,740 children, with more trials planned. The vaccine is designed to blunt the effect of a virus that, starting this fall, could infect 100 million people in the United States and cause 30,000 to 90,000 deaths based on scenarios drawn from past pandemics, says Arnold Monto of the University of Michigan, an adviser to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.