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By: Jeffery Kurz, Record-Journal staff
10/27/2009
MERIDEN - Kathy Alcott was able to get the H1N1 flu vaccine at the Meriden Department of Health and Human Services Tuesday. She was out of luck when it came to the seasonal flu vaccine.
"I would have liked both," Alcott said.
Alcott, who is 57, runs a day-care service out of her Meriden home and takes care of a 2-month-old infant, so she's on the priority list when it comes to the administration of the vaccine for H1N1, which is also called the swine flu. She received the injected dose of the vaccine.
She said she asked her doctor about the seasonal flu vaccine, but was told she'd have to wait.
"It's going to be first come, first served whenever they get it," she said.
The situation with both vaccines remains fluid, and has become so frustrating that Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell recently urged an overhaul of the production and distribution system in a letter to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Connecticut was told in July that it would receive about 500,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine by the middle of October, but has received just 127,600.
"We recognize that it's a frustrating situation for those who want the vaccine right now, and we're doing what we can to get it out to those who need it the most," said William Gerrish, spokesman for the state Department of Public Health.
Because of heightened publicity surrounding the swine flu, demand has also increased for the seasonal flu vaccine. Flu clinics have been canceled, leaving many people, such as Alcott, searching around for the vaccine.
The swine flu vaccine will not protect against seasonal flu and the seasonal flu vaccine won't work against H1N1. Younger people are more vulnerable to the swine flu, and the elderly more susceptible to seasonal flu.
On Tuesday, Meriden's health department still had ample supply of the H1N1 vaccine, in both the nasal spray and injected forms. A clinic specifically targeting schoolchildren has been set for Nov. 7, from 9 to 11 a.m., said Beth Vumbaco, department director.
As for the seasonal flu vaccine, at the moment "it's very hard to come by," said Charles I. Motes, director of the Southington Health Department.
"It changes every day," said Margaret LaCroix, spokeswoman for the American Lung Association of New England. The association runs a clinic locator tool online, at http://flucliniclocator.org/
The association typically does not kick off its flu season campaign until late October or early November, said LaCroix, but this season, thanks to heightened concern, demand started in September. In Connecticut, about 85 percent of the seasonal flu vaccine is from the private sector, which can make it more difficult to track what remains available.
The Meriden health department is now out of the seasonal flu vaccine, having administered 1,200 doses since late September.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 82 million of the 114 million doses of the seasonal flu vaccine have been distributed.
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</noscript> </td></tr></tbody></table> President Barack Obama recently declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency, a move that allows Sebelius to let hospitals set up emergency rooms off site in an effort to protect patients who are not infected.
Hospitals prepare for pandemic situations, and now "everybody is going to be taking a look at their plans," said Leslie Gianelli, spokeswoman for the Wallingford-based Connecticut Hospital Association.
Though it's in the midst of a major expansion of its emergency department, Meriden's MidState Medical Center has a separate emergency room area where patients with flu-like symptoms can be sectioned off from the rest of the department, including the waiting room, said Dr. Fred Tilden, Emergency Department medical director.
Tilden said last week that there was "an uptick" in patients with flu-like symptoms.
Signs at MidState advise against visiting patients if you have symptoms of the flu. At the Hospital of Central Connecticut - which includes New Britain General and Bradley Memorial, in Southington - signs will specifically advise those 18 and under to reconsider visiting patients.
The "younger population has been hit much harder," said Dr. Joseph Garner, director of the infectious diseases division at the Hospital of Central Connecticut. Thus, the precaution of asking youngsters not to visit.
"Certainly, we'd make exceptions," Garner said.
Following Obama's declaration, plans are under discussion that include recruiting physicians, expanding clinic hours and looking at off-site possibilities, Garner said.
More than 1,000 Americans, including nearly 100 children, have died from the H1N1 flu strain, with 46 states - though not Connecticut - reporting widespread activity.
There's evidence of increased H1N1 activity in Connecticut, said Gerrish: a second wave following the first in the spring. Schools have closed in three school systems in the state.
While more of the H1N1 vaccine is expected next week, "obviously we're way short of where we expected to be," Gerrish said. "So our focus is on getting what is available out to those most at risk."
In Meriden, "we've seen very little in the community, but it's about to go up," said Vumbaco. She said there's indication of influenza outbreak in at least one of the elementary schools in the Meriden system.
As of Tuesday, the Meriden health department had 120 doses of the injected H1N1 vaccine, and 490 nasal spray doses. The department is hoping for more of the seasonal flu vaccine in mid-November.
Vumbaco said there are those growing impatient with the inability to get the seasonal flu vaccine, and they need to be reassured that it will be available.
The peak of the seasonal flu season in Connecticut is in February, said LaCroix, so getting the vaccine even much later in the season should remain effective.
10/27/2009
MERIDEN - Kathy Alcott was able to get the H1N1 flu vaccine at the Meriden Department of Health and Human Services Tuesday. She was out of luck when it came to the seasonal flu vaccine.
"I would have liked both," Alcott said.
Alcott, who is 57, runs a day-care service out of her Meriden home and takes care of a 2-month-old infant, so she's on the priority list when it comes to the administration of the vaccine for H1N1, which is also called the swine flu. She received the injected dose of the vaccine.
She said she asked her doctor about the seasonal flu vaccine, but was told she'd have to wait.
"It's going to be first come, first served whenever they get it," she said.
The situation with both vaccines remains fluid, and has become so frustrating that Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell recently urged an overhaul of the production and distribution system in a letter to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Connecticut was told in July that it would receive about 500,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine by the middle of October, but has received just 127,600.
"We recognize that it's a frustrating situation for those who want the vaccine right now, and we're doing what we can to get it out to those who need it the most," said William Gerrish, spokesman for the state Department of Public Health.
Because of heightened publicity surrounding the swine flu, demand has also increased for the seasonal flu vaccine. Flu clinics have been canceled, leaving many people, such as Alcott, searching around for the vaccine.
The swine flu vaccine will not protect against seasonal flu and the seasonal flu vaccine won't work against H1N1. Younger people are more vulnerable to the swine flu, and the elderly more susceptible to seasonal flu.
On Tuesday, Meriden's health department still had ample supply of the H1N1 vaccine, in both the nasal spray and injected forms. A clinic specifically targeting schoolchildren has been set for Nov. 7, from 9 to 11 a.m., said Beth Vumbaco, department director.
As for the seasonal flu vaccine, at the moment "it's very hard to come by," said Charles I. Motes, director of the Southington Health Department.
"It changes every day," said Margaret LaCroix, spokeswoman for the American Lung Association of New England. The association runs a clinic locator tool online, at http://flucliniclocator.org/
The association typically does not kick off its flu season campaign until late October or early November, said LaCroix, but this season, thanks to heightened concern, demand started in September. In Connecticut, about 85 percent of the seasonal flu vaccine is from the private sector, which can make it more difficult to track what remains available.
The Meriden health department is now out of the seasonal flu vaccine, having administered 1,200 doses since late September.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 82 million of the 114 million doses of the seasonal flu vaccine have been distributed.
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<script type="text/javascript"><!--// OA_show(55106); // --></script><noscript>Hospitals prepare for pandemic situations, and now "everybody is going to be taking a look at their plans," said Leslie Gianelli, spokeswoman for the Wallingford-based Connecticut Hospital Association.
Though it's in the midst of a major expansion of its emergency department, Meriden's MidState Medical Center has a separate emergency room area where patients with flu-like symptoms can be sectioned off from the rest of the department, including the waiting room, said Dr. Fred Tilden, Emergency Department medical director.
Tilden said last week that there was "an uptick" in patients with flu-like symptoms.
Signs at MidState advise against visiting patients if you have symptoms of the flu. At the Hospital of Central Connecticut - which includes New Britain General and Bradley Memorial, in Southington - signs will specifically advise those 18 and under to reconsider visiting patients.
The "younger population has been hit much harder," said Dr. Joseph Garner, director of the infectious diseases division at the Hospital of Central Connecticut. Thus, the precaution of asking youngsters not to visit.
"Certainly, we'd make exceptions," Garner said.
Following Obama's declaration, plans are under discussion that include recruiting physicians, expanding clinic hours and looking at off-site possibilities, Garner said.
More than 1,000 Americans, including nearly 100 children, have died from the H1N1 flu strain, with 46 states - though not Connecticut - reporting widespread activity.
There's evidence of increased H1N1 activity in Connecticut, said Gerrish: a second wave following the first in the spring. Schools have closed in three school systems in the state.
While more of the H1N1 vaccine is expected next week, "obviously we're way short of where we expected to be," Gerrish said. "So our focus is on getting what is available out to those most at risk."
In Meriden, "we've seen very little in the community, but it's about to go up," said Vumbaco. She said there's indication of influenza outbreak in at least one of the elementary schools in the Meriden system.
As of Tuesday, the Meriden health department had 120 doses of the injected H1N1 vaccine, and 490 nasal spray doses. The department is hoping for more of the seasonal flu vaccine in mid-November.
Vumbaco said there are those growing impatient with the inability to get the seasonal flu vaccine, and they need to be reassured that it will be available.
The peak of the seasonal flu season in Connecticut is in February, said LaCroix, so getting the vaccine even much later in the season should remain effective.