|
Swine Flu Here; Vaccine Coming This Week
Published in The Everett Herald
|
|
|
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
|
The first doses of swine flu vaccine are expected to arrive in Snohomish County by the end of this week — coming at a time when the swine flu virus is spreading at high rates.
The first shipment of vaccine, about 7,200 doses of the nasal vaccine, will be reserved for health care employees, police officers and firefighters, health officials said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, public health and medical groups are gearing up for massive public swine flu vaccination clinics in Snohomish County on Oct. 31 and Nov. 7.
Although details are being worked out, the vaccine is expected to be offered at hospitals in Everett, Monroe, Arlington and Edmonds, the Tulalip Health Center and The Everett Clinic.
Priority for the vaccinations will be given to pregnant women and others who can be hit hardest by the virus, including those between the ages of 6 months and 24 years of age, teachers and child care workers.
The first batch of public vaccine, about 60,000 doses, is expected to arrive the week of Oct. 18, with about 40,000 more doses expected later.
The local swine flu immunization campaigns are part of a national rush to vaccinate the public against the H1N1 virus, which has killed more than 600 people nationally since last spring.
Influenza has arrived unusually early and is spreading rapidly, both locally and nationally. Nearly all these cases are believed to be swine flu.
Some area clinics say they're treating numbers of patients they typically don't see in normal flu seasons until January and February.
“The amount of influenza we saw this past week corresponds to what we usually see in the middle of winter — not in the fall,” said Dr. Yuan-Po Tu, who oversees influenza issues at The Everett Clinic.
He said he's never seen as much flu in October as is occurring this year.
“I don't think we've seen the peak,” he added. “We're on the upswing.”
Providence Regional Medical Center Everett and The Everett Clinic have begun asking patients with flulike symptoms to wear medical masks to stem the spread of the virus.
This year differs from previous flu seasons in several ways.
First, the outbreak is a new type of influenza — swine flu. It began in the spring, continued into the summer, although at lower rates, and has now regrouped for a second wave.
Meanwhile, the supply of swine flu vaccine is just beginning to trickle out nationally. At least initially, that supply is reserved for health care workers and those at higher risk of developing serious health complications from the flu.
So this year, there's no widespread reservoir of people with immunity gained from flu shots before the first big wave of influenza arrived.
“This is very different – unprecedented,” Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District, said Tuesday.
Swine flu is spreading rapidly, especially among children and young adults, Goldbaum said. Absenteeism is growing at area schools, just as some clinics are reporting an unusual spike in patients with influenzalike illnesses.
Although the swine flu vaccine is arriving after the initial fall wave of the virus, “vaccination is the most effective strategy for interrupting the spread of this disease and preventing complications and death,” Goldbaum said.
The goal of vaccination programs is to inoculate 100,000 people in Snohomish County by Thanksgiving.
Eventually, there should be enough vaccine for anyone who wants it, health officials say.
Local and federal health officials Tuesday tried to reassure a public that so far has remained cautious about getting a new flu vaccine.
No shortcuts were taken in gearing up to produce the vaccine, Frieden said. It is made in the same way that hundreds of millions of vaccine doses have been produced over the years, he stressed.
Federal officials closely monitored the vaccine for any side effects during early tests, and continue to do so, he said.
Vaccinating as many people as possible, especially those in the priority groups for the swine flu vaccine, will help slow the spread of the virus in the entire community, Goldbaum said.
“This is definitely a case where we as a community needs to step up,” he said.
|
|