Commonground
Senior Moderator
October 28, 2009 - 12:00 am
State public health officials have set up a hotline to answer questions about the flu. If you have questions about the new H1N1 flu, the seasonal flu - and where and when you can get a flu shot, you can call 211 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The hotline is a collaboration between the state and United Ways of New Hampshire, Public Service of New Hampshire and Exeter Hospital.
Though health officials have established the hotline, they are not changing their message. H1N1 flu is transmitted the same way as seasonal flu and has many of the same symptoms: fever, cough, sore throat and runny nose. If you're sick, health officials ask you to cover your coughs and stay home from work or school. They recommend that everyone wash their hands frequently to slow the spread of the virus.
They do not recommend that everyone with symptoms see a doctor. Do contact your doctor if you have health conditions that make you vulnerable or if your illness is severe - especially if you're having trouble breathing.
Vaccine for the H1N1 flu is trickling out, but more slowly than health officials had originally forecast. Some - but not all - local providers have doses of the vaccine. Because doses are limited, they are only being offered to pregnant women, children between 6 months and 5 years old with chronic health conditions and health care workers in direct care positions - groups at the greatest risk of severe illness. As more vaccine becomes available, more people will become eligible to receive it.
According to state officials, New Hampshire has received 30,000 doses and is expecting 40,000 more next week. About 13,500 people have gotten the H1N1 vaccine so far.
Meanwhile, most local providers have run out of seasonal flu vaccine. Only Concord Hospital, which offers the shot to its established primary care patients, still has doses available. The good news, health officials said, is that there is little seasonal flu circulating now.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091028/NEWS01/910280337/1001
State public health officials have set up a hotline to answer questions about the flu. If you have questions about the new H1N1 flu, the seasonal flu - and where and when you can get a flu shot, you can call 211 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The hotline is a collaboration between the state and United Ways of New Hampshire, Public Service of New Hampshire and Exeter Hospital.
Though health officials have established the hotline, they are not changing their message. H1N1 flu is transmitted the same way as seasonal flu and has many of the same symptoms: fever, cough, sore throat and runny nose. If you're sick, health officials ask you to cover your coughs and stay home from work or school. They recommend that everyone wash their hands frequently to slow the spread of the virus.
They do not recommend that everyone with symptoms see a doctor. Do contact your doctor if you have health conditions that make you vulnerable or if your illness is severe - especially if you're having trouble breathing.
Vaccine for the H1N1 flu is trickling out, but more slowly than health officials had originally forecast. Some - but not all - local providers have doses of the vaccine. Because doses are limited, they are only being offered to pregnant women, children between 6 months and 5 years old with chronic health conditions and health care workers in direct care positions - groups at the greatest risk of severe illness. As more vaccine becomes available, more people will become eligible to receive it.
According to state officials, New Hampshire has received 30,000 doses and is expecting 40,000 more next week. About 13,500 people have gotten the H1N1 vaccine so far.
Meanwhile, most local providers have run out of seasonal flu vaccine. Only Concord Hospital, which offers the shot to its established primary care patients, still has doses available. The good news, health officials said, is that there is little seasonal flu circulating now.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091028/NEWS01/910280337/1001