Clinics prepare to give flu shots
INLAND AREA: The time has come for residents to get ready for the influenza season.
10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, September 23, 2006
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Inland health care providers are gearing up for the coming flu season with dozens of clinics during October and November, at which residents can be vaccinated against this year's expected strain of the influenza virus.
"Traditionally in Riverside County, influenza season starts in December," said Barbara Cole, director of disease control for the Riverside County Department of Public Health. "It tends to start peaking in January or early February."
That's why autumn is the traditional season for inoculations, Cole explained.
"Every year, more than 225,000 people in the United States are hospitalized, and more than 35,000 die due to influenza and its complications," said Norma Arceo, spokeswoman for the California Department of Health Services, citing statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More precise numbers for Riverside and San Bernardino counties aren't available because influenza infections aren't tracked in California or listed as contributing factors on death certificates, Arceo said.
"It's always a mystery as to when the influenza will hit California. We never know when it's going to start," Arceo said.
"We all know that the most vulnerable populations are the elderly and children," she said. "So our goal is to immunize individuals who have close contact with these populations."
This year's vaccine is a mixture of two strains of influenza A that have "Wisconsin" and "New Caledonia" in their scientific names, and one strain of influenza B with "Malaysia" in its name, Arceo said.
Public health officials recommend that women who will be pregnant during flu season should be immunized, along with health care workers, law enforcement officers, "residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities, those who have chronic medical conditions like AIDS and diabetes, and individuals who live with or care for an adult over age 60," Arceo said.
This year, the flu shot is advised for children ages 6 months to 59 months, Cole said. Children's flu shots contain a lower dosage than those for adults.
The state ordered 697,480 doses of this season's influenza vaccine from the CDC for distribution to local agencies that will conduct flu shot clinics -- excluding Los Angeles County, which is so populous that it orders its own supply from the CDC, Arceo said.
"On Sept. 18, we started to distribute them to the counties. This is for the low- or no-cost (clinics)," she said. "This is just a minor percentage of what's needed for the entire state."
Private-practice physicians dispense the bulk of flu shots each year to patients who have health insurance, Arceo said, and those doctors obtain their own supply of the vaccine.
Each year, flu shot clinics are a big draw at the James Simpson Neighborhood Senior Center in Hemet, said Tracy Scott, who manages the senior center. The city has a sizable population of retired and elderly residents.
"It's a madhouse. We block off the streets," Scott said. "People are waiting at the door when we get here. They need to arrive early."
The city-run center offers patrons the option of walking in or receiving the shot in their cars, in the "drive-thru clinic," Scott said.
According to the CDC, the nasal-spray version of the flu vaccine is recommended only for healthy people ages 5 to 49 years old. That's because the spray is a "live attenuated influenza vaccine," meaning it contains a weakened form of the flu virus.
By contrast, the injectible version of the flu vaccine contains a killed version of the influenza virus, Cole said.
People who are allergic to eggs probably shouldn't get the vaccine, since each year's strain of the virus is grown in chicken eggs, health officials said.
It takes the vaccine about two weeks to activate, and in the interim, the recipient is susceptible to catching the flu, according to the CDC.
Reach Mary Bender at 951-893-2103 or mbender@PE.com
BS Ranch Perspective:
Now that the season is upon us, the question looms, is there enough Flue Vaccine for everyone that wants to get a shot? In years past there has been problems with the supply of the Influenza liquid gold that cures all, or supposedly does!
I am mostly posting this on my BLOG so that everyone gets the dates and can get the shots if they want them!!
Please get your Flue shots today, it cannot hurt anything, and if anything it just might save a life. Maybe yours!
BS Ranch
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