Commonground
Senior Moderator
By John Hale
Oct 22, 2009
Augusta ? Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control (CDC), said on Oct. 22 that by early December, Maine still will have only half the amount of swine-flu vaccine it needs to vaccinate the state?s high-risk population.
Production of the H1N1 vaccine nationally has been painfully slow.
Thus far, Maine has received 55,500 doses of the vaccine, Mills said. And she said there are 700,000 people in Maine who should be vaccinated against the potent new strain of flu.
?It?s very important that this be focused on pregnant women and children,? Mills told reporters. ?They are the ones who are being hospitalized and are dying at much higher rates than others.?
?The chances are if you?re in a high-risk category, you?re going to have a hard time getting the vaccine," she said. "Everybody will have access to it, eventually.?
As of Oct. 21, 5,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine had been distributed in Kennebec County; 2,300 doses in Knox County; 1,000 doses in Waldo County; and 1,300 doses in Hancock County.
Mills said 90 percent of the doses have been provided to pediatric and obstetric providers and to schools. Some of the doses have been provided to hospitals to go to health-care providers, she said.
Some school systems are planning to have H1N1 vaccine clinics next week, she said, including Augusta, Waterville and Portland.
Mills said 20,000 doses of pediatric seasonal flu doses also arrived in Maine this week.
Forty percent of the H1N1 vaccine that?s arrived is nasal spray, Mills said. She demonstrated the nasal spray with a tube containing salt water.
?There?s no needle in the end of it,? she said, to allay the fears of some children. The vaccine?s mist goes into both nostrils.
She said two more laboratories in Maine are now doing tests for H1N1, taking some of the pressure off the state CDC lab, which has performed 5,000 swine flu tests since April. Mills said the test is quite time-consuming.
?People are wondering what they should do if they get sick,? said Mills. ?The symptoms of H1N1 are a fever of at least 100 degrees and either a cough or a sore throat or both. Some people feel achy and some vomit or have diarrhea.?
If you have these symptoms, you should stay away from school or work, and stay at home until at least 24 hours have passed after you are free of the fever.
?You should call your doctor or go to the emergency room if you?re over 65, if you have a child under 5, or if you have any underlying medical condition, and you should get the antiviral medication Tamiflu,? Mills said.
?I probably won?t be vaccinated for another two or three months,? Mills said, explaining that she doesn?t fit into a high-risk category. But she said she expects that her children will be vaccinated at school within a few days.
?This is a pediatric and young adult pandemic,? said Mills.
She said people should practice respiratory hygiene while they?re waiting to get vaccinated, including covering their coughs and frequently washing their hands.
Mills said the first case of H1N1 in Aroostook County has been confirmed. And she said the first two cases of seasonal flu have been reported; in a child in Androscoggin County and an adult in Cumberland County, both of whom are recovering.
She also said there?s been a new outbreak of H1N1, at Gould Academy in Bethel. Four students there have been confirmed to have H1N1, and eight students and two staff members are suspected to have contracted the illness, for a total of 14 cases.
http://capital.villagesoup.com/news/story/h1n1-vaccine-slow-in-coming-to-maine/204913
Oct 22, 2009
Augusta ? Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control (CDC), said on Oct. 22 that by early December, Maine still will have only half the amount of swine-flu vaccine it needs to vaccinate the state?s high-risk population.
Production of the H1N1 vaccine nationally has been painfully slow.
Thus far, Maine has received 55,500 doses of the vaccine, Mills said. And she said there are 700,000 people in Maine who should be vaccinated against the potent new strain of flu.
?It?s very important that this be focused on pregnant women and children,? Mills told reporters. ?They are the ones who are being hospitalized and are dying at much higher rates than others.?
?The chances are if you?re in a high-risk category, you?re going to have a hard time getting the vaccine," she said. "Everybody will have access to it, eventually.?
As of Oct. 21, 5,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine had been distributed in Kennebec County; 2,300 doses in Knox County; 1,000 doses in Waldo County; and 1,300 doses in Hancock County.
Mills said 90 percent of the doses have been provided to pediatric and obstetric providers and to schools. Some of the doses have been provided to hospitals to go to health-care providers, she said.
Some school systems are planning to have H1N1 vaccine clinics next week, she said, including Augusta, Waterville and Portland.
Mills said 20,000 doses of pediatric seasonal flu doses also arrived in Maine this week.
Forty percent of the H1N1 vaccine that?s arrived is nasal spray, Mills said. She demonstrated the nasal spray with a tube containing salt water.
?There?s no needle in the end of it,? she said, to allay the fears of some children. The vaccine?s mist goes into both nostrils.
She said two more laboratories in Maine are now doing tests for H1N1, taking some of the pressure off the state CDC lab, which has performed 5,000 swine flu tests since April. Mills said the test is quite time-consuming.
?People are wondering what they should do if they get sick,? said Mills. ?The symptoms of H1N1 are a fever of at least 100 degrees and either a cough or a sore throat or both. Some people feel achy and some vomit or have diarrhea.?
If you have these symptoms, you should stay away from school or work, and stay at home until at least 24 hours have passed after you are free of the fever.
?You should call your doctor or go to the emergency room if you?re over 65, if you have a child under 5, or if you have any underlying medical condition, and you should get the antiviral medication Tamiflu,? Mills said.
?I probably won?t be vaccinated for another two or three months,? Mills said, explaining that she doesn?t fit into a high-risk category. But she said she expects that her children will be vaccinated at school within a few days.
?This is a pediatric and young adult pandemic,? said Mills.
She said people should practice respiratory hygiene while they?re waiting to get vaccinated, including covering their coughs and frequently washing their hands.
Mills said the first case of H1N1 in Aroostook County has been confirmed. And she said the first two cases of seasonal flu have been reported; in a child in Androscoggin County and an adult in Cumberland County, both of whom are recovering.
She also said there?s been a new outbreak of H1N1, at Gould Academy in Bethel. Four students there have been confirmed to have H1N1, and eight students and two staff members are suspected to have contracted the illness, for a total of 14 cases.
http://capital.villagesoup.com/news/story/h1n1-vaccine-slow-in-coming-to-maine/204913