Health

Canadian flu vaccine help doubtful

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Wednesday night that Canadian help was on the way to relieve the flu vaccine shortage. But America's top health official and other experts said Thursday that getting more supplies of vaccine from Canada is unlikely.

There isn't enough time for U.S. regulators to approve a Canadian vaccine, and Canada doesn't have enough to spare, they said.

Bush in Wednesday's debate said discussions with Canada would "help us realize the vaccine necessary to make sure our citizens have got flu vaccinations during this upcoming season."

After the debate Bush aides made it sound like help from Canada was a good bet.

But the next morning, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson told reporters that it was "doubtful" that a Canadian flu vaccine could get Food and Drug Administration approval in time for this influenza season.

Quebec-based ID Biomedical has had discussions with U.S. health officials about the availability of flu vaccine, but those were mostly about future sales, said spokeswoman Michele Roy. ID Biomedical's vaccine is not licensed in the United States, and the company has only about 1-million to 1.5-million doses to spare, "not much to you because you need over 45-million," she said.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A Swedish study suggests that people who use a cell phone for at least 10 years might increase their risk of developing a rare benign tumor along a nerve on the side of the head where they hold the phone.

In an interview Thursday, one of the researchers behind the preliminary study, Anders Ahlbom, said the results were surprising and more research is needed.

Several previous studies have investigated whether the use of cell phones is linked to an increased risk of brain tumors. Although experiments have shown radiation from mobile phones can affect brain cells in a lab, more relevant studies on people have found no evidence that the phones pose a health risk. However, experts have said that because children's brains are developing, it may not be a good idea for them to use the phones for long periods.

The three-year study, by professors at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, focused on 750 Swedes who had used cell phones for at least 10 years. It was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

The Wireless Association in Washington, D.C., a trade group representing cell phone manufacturers, urged more research.

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