By Tom Grace
Cooperstown News Bureau
Swine flu is here, and health
care providers are gearing up to
vaccinate people, starting with
pregnant women, children, young
adults, healthcare
workers and those
who work with babies
younger than 6
months old.
Priorities have
been set to protect
those most at risk
because the vaccine
is in short supply.
This virus, H1N1,
which has human,
avian and swine
components, struck
Mexico hard last
spring and has
spread around the
world.
In the United
States, more than
1,000 people with flulike
symptoms have
died since April, the Associated
Press reported Friday. Most H1N1
cases have been mild, but the illness
has closed schools, such as
Worcester Central, which shut its
doors Thursday to allow students
and staff to recover.
State Health Department statistics
show that just 39 people
statewide were being treated in
hospitals for flu-like symptoms in
early October, but the numbers
may rise.
``Total influenza hospitalization
rates for laboratory-confirmed flu
are climbing and are higher than
expected for this
time of year,’’ the
Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
reported on its
website.
Patients who have
died from flu complications
are usually
those with compromised
immune
systems, and most
people make a complete
recovery. However,
researchers
worry the virus may
mutate, according
to Ruth Blackman,
director of infection
prevention at Bassett
Healthcare in
Cooperstown.
``It really is a new virus, a flu
we haven’t seen before and the
concern is that if we don’t get prepared,
we may regret it,’’ she said.
As the virus spreads, it could
become more dangerous, Blackman
said.
“One situation we can
draw from is the 1918
swine flu, which was different
from this virus,’’
she said. ``It popped up
in the late spring, faded
away over the summer,
then came back in a form
that made people more
severely ill.’’
That pandemic, known
at the Spanish flu, killed
millions around the globe.
So far, the current swineflu
virus has been far
more treatable, although
it shares at least one characteristic
with its cousin: it
seems to disproportionately
hit healthy young adults,
who ordinarily are not at
risk for seasonal flu.
Usually the elderly
and very young are most
susceptible to flu viruses,
but older people seem to
ward off swine flu better
than young adults, Blackman
said.
``The average age for
someone to become ill with
H1N1 is 12 years old, so
that’s very different from
seasonal flu,’’ she noted.
Some speculate that
older people may have
been exposed to a related
virus, giving them immunity,
she said.
To give others immunity,
the federal government has
embarked on a program to
make the vaccine widely
available. But so far, supplies
have been trickling
in, according to Russell
McCall, Bassett’s pharmacy
purchasing coordinator.
``We might have enough
to vaccinate one-tenth of
our employees,’’ he said
Wednesday.
Months ago, the federal
government projected that
120 million doses of the
vaccine would be available
by mid-October. Yet fewer
than 13 million doses had
been delivered by midmonth,
according to The
Associated Press.
Supplies are short for
a number of reasons, including
the pressure drug
makers are under to produce
seasonal, as well as
swine flu, vaccine at the
same time. Also, the process
for making the vaccine
is cumbersome, as the
slowly reproducing virus
is grown inside fertilized
chicken eggs.
At a U.S. Senate hearing
Wednesday, Health
and Human Services Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius
was questioned about the
slow delivery of vaccines,
which are being produced
mostly outside the country,
CBS News reported.
Sebelius said while
there is a delay in shipments,
there will be no
shortage of vaccine.
A Purdue University
study released last week
suggested swine flu will
spread widely in October,
winning the race against
the vaccine. But Blackman
said most healthy people
should be vaccinated for
both swine flu and seasonal
flu this year, whenever
the vaccine arrives.
As health care providers
wait for shipments, clinics
are being planned.
Bassett announced Friday
it will soon offer clinics
``to established patients
and Bassett employees
who fall within the priority
groups recommended to
receive the vaccine.
``Bassett’s supply is
limited and so people will
be asked to call ahead to
schedule an appointment.
We anticipate holding clinics
at locations around the
Bassett network. Exact
dates, locations, times and
a number to call to schedule
your appointment will
be announced next week
and will also be placed on
the Web at www.bassett.
org.’’
Alisha Barbera, spokeswoman
for A.O. Fox Memorial
Hospital, said Fox is
vaccinating staff and patients.
People concerned
about getting their flu shots
should call their health
care provider.
Cynthia Moore, Otsego
County’s public health
emergency preparedness
coordinator, said Thursday
the agency has received
about 300 doses of
nasal spray and will hold
a clinic from 4 p.m. to 8
p.m. Wednesday.
The free vaccine, which
will be administered to
people between the ages of
2 and 24 only, will be at the
Meadows Office Complex
in Middlefield.
Several groups of people
should not take the nasal
vaccine, as it contains
an attenuated live virus.
Among these are pregnant
women, children younger
than 2, anyone who has
had a live virus vaccine in
the previous 28 days or has
an allergy to eggs, people
with suppressed immune
systems, and children or
adolescents who are taking
aspirin or other salicylates,
she said.
Many who cannot take
the nasal vaccine can tolerate
the injectable types,
Moore said.
