A BEARSDEN doctor has started work on a vaccine for swine flu which could save millions of lives.
Dr Archie Lovatt heads up a team of experts whose efforts will be pivotal in the battle against the killer virus.
His Clydebank-based microbiology company Vitrology has been given live samples of the disease and they are now carrying out crucial t
ests on it before a vaccine can be mass produced.
Dr Lovatt (42), from the Hillfoot area, said: "We will carry out tests which are crucial. Before it goes into a syringe, it has to be checked that there is nothing contaminating the sample from which the vaccine will be produced.
"After we have carried out our tests, we will send the live virus back when it will be killed again before the vaccine is made."
Dr Lovatt, the founder and scientific director of Vitrology, said that because of the stringent testing and other procedures, a vaccine is still several months away.
However, as the first case of swine flu was confirmed in Bearsden and Milngavie, Dr Lovatt urged people not to panic.
He said: "So far it's no worse than normal flu, but we will have to see what happens in the winter. Plans are well in place and the government has ordered 90 million doses of the vaccine."
