US set to launch trials of swine flu vaccine

US authorities are searching for volunteers to launch clinical trials of swine flu vaccines ahead of the northern winter flu season, officials said Wednesday. "With the emergence of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, we have undertaken a collaborative and efficient process of vaccine development that is proceeding in stepwise fashion," said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The United States is now the country the worst hit by the outbreak of the A(H1N1) virus, with more than 40,600 cases reported across all 50 states and 263 deaths.