By Richard Kerns
rkerns@newstribune.info
tribune staff writer
KEYSER — With two confirmed cases of swine flu in Mineral County, and four suspected cases in county schools, the Mineral County Health Department is sponsoring a special vaccination clinic Thursday for county first responders, health care workers and pregnant women.
The 4:30-7:30 p.m. clinic will be held at the Health Department, located on Harley Staggers Drive in Keyser, just south of Keyser Primary-Middle School.
A.J. Root, administrator of the Mineral County Health Department, said clinics are being limited to those three groups of county residents until more vaccine becomes available. He expects the vaccine to next be made available in county schools, as more supplies arrive.
“I wish we could do it all at
once, but we can only provide vaccines as we get it,” Root said.
According to Root, Mineral County has had only two confirmed cases of swine flu. The first occurred several months ago, and the second just recently.
On Monday, Mineral County school officials confirmed that four children — three at Keyser Pre-K on Piedmont Street and one at New Creek Elementary — had been kept out of school with what their doctors suspect is swine flu. Tests are being conducted and the results are expected to be known by the end of the week.
Swine flu vaccinations are being made available to health care workers and first responders, including firefighters and EMTs, because they are most likely to come into contact with the virus. Pregnant women and their fetuses have been identified as especially susceptible to swine flu, and are included in the initial clinics as well.
The Thursday clinic follows outreach clinics the health department has conducted at meetings of the Mineral County Ambulance Authority, as well as a clinic held at the 911 center. In addition to Thursday night's clinic, the health department offers the shots to those three groups through its regular immunization clinics, held every Tuesday from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Root said turnout at the previous clinics has been relatively light, as many EMTs and firefighters have difficulty attending because of work schedules. However, with this week’s report of suspected cases in the schools, and with the flu continuing to spread nationwide, he expects turnout to improve.
“We're trying to give them as much opportunity (to receive the shot) as possible,” he said.
After the health department is satisfied that the vaccine has been made available to most of the county residents in the initial three groups, Root expects the effort to shift to the schools, as limited availability will continue to prevent making it available to the general population. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the age group most vulnerable to swine flu is infants to age 24.
“Next up, we're probably looking at children,” Root said. “Tha’s probably going to be our next target.”
Even then, school-based vaccines will likely be made available a few schools at a time, based on an assessment of the most at-risk populations in the individual schools.
Root encouraged county residents and concerned parents to visit the health department's Web site — www.mineralcountyhealthdepartment.com — for information on the swine flu pandemic. A click-tab on the main page opens a Web site by the CDC with updates on the virus and tips on how to identify and respond to flu-like symptoms.
According to the CDC, West Virginia and Maryland are among the 41 U.S. states reporting widespread flu activity. Between Aug. 30 and Oct. 10, 292 Americans have died from swine flu, with 64 percent of the deaths occurring in the infant to 24 age bracket.
The web site update reported that, “During the week of October 4-10, 2009, influenza activity continued to increase in the United States ... Nationwide, visits to doctors for influenza-like-illness continued to increase and are now about equal to or higher than what is seen at the peak of many regular flu seasons. In addition, flu-related hospitalizations and deaths are continuing to go up and are above what is expected for this time of year.”
For questions about the clinics or swine flu, contact the Mineral County Health Department at 304-788-1321.
Keyser, W.Va. —
