Q: Is there any vaccine for swine flu? If not, when is it expected to be available?

A:As of date there is no vaccine for the current H1N1 infection anywhere in the world. Some clinical trials are going on in the West. However, unless these vaccines are tried on Indians and found to be safe, it would be dangerous to start prophylactic dosing. The incidence of H1N1 infection is currently quite low in India and hence mass scale immunization is not warranted. Even when vaccine is available, it would be administered to people at very high risk such as doctors, nurses, hospital staff etc. The question of vaccinating everyone is physically impossible.