Russia one step away from swine flu vaccine

In Russia's St. Petersburg, 30 people have agreed to test a new vaccine against swine flu. The volunteers will spend a week in hospital under medical monitoring.

These volunteers, between ages 18 and 60, have passed all the necessary medical tests.

According to Marianna Erofeeva, the head of the laboratory that carries out the clinical tests, they used “live” intranasal vaccine.

“The main purpose is to make sure the vaccine is safe and effective,” ITAR-TASS quoted her as saying.

If the results of the clinical tests are successful, the vaccine will go into production in Siberia.

So far, 319 people have tested positive for H1N1 in Russia, though no one has died from the disease.