County to get H1N1 vaccines

On Monday, Indianapolis received 3,500 doses of H1N1 Flu Mist, an active, intranasal form of the H1N1 vaccine, which will be used to inoculate the city’s health care workers.

Indianapolis and Memphis, Tenn., were the first two cities in the nation to receive shipments of Flu Mist.

Last week, the Indiana Health Department ordered 28,700 doses of the vaccine to be distributed among the state’s 93 local health departments, according to a press release. The shipments are expected to arrive in the next few days.

Monroe County has yet to receive its shipment of Flu Mist. When it arrives, that shipment will first go to pediatric offices and then health care officials upon request.

Penny Caudill, administrator at the Monroe County Health Department, said she is “anxiously awaiting permission to order” the inactive, injectable vaccine and expects to receive shipments in mid-October.

Vaccination efforts in Monroe County will focus on five target groups: pregnant women, caregivers of infants, children and young adults six months to 24 years old, people aged 25 to 64 with chronic health conditions and health care providers.

Caudill said health care providers will begin to offer the vaccine to others when the department has enough supplies for everyone in the target group. She estimated this would take between six and eight weeks.

Caudill said the vaccine will be available at health care centers throughout the county, including the IU Health Center. The vaccination is free, but health care providers may charge a fee for administration.

The first Flu Mist vaccinations that arrived in Indianapolis will be given to health care workers so they can continue to care for the sick, said Collette DuValle, director of communications for the Marion County Health Department.

Because Flu Mist is a live form of the vaccine, it can only be used for a restricted population – healthy, non-pregnant people ages 2 to 49.

The Marion County Health Department is expecting a shipment of the inactive H1N1 vaccine in mid-October. That vaccine will be used to inoculate the rest of the public, including pregnant women, children, the elderly and people with chronic health conditions.

Details about the shipment date and number of doses could not be confirmed, but health department officials encourage the public to monitor local media for information about when and where they can get vaccinated.

DuValle said when the shipment arrives, the health department will partner with schools and local clinics to distribute the vaccine to the public.

In the meantime, health officials recommend practicing good hygiene and frequent handwashing. They said students and workers should stay home if they experience flu-like symptoms, and they are urging school officials and employers to cooperate.

“Right now, we are seeing a large influx of influenza,” DuValle said. “We are expecting that a lot of people in the community will become sick, and we are urging businesses and schools to prepare for large numbers of absenteeism.”

H1N1 is widespread in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency reported that between Aug. 30 and Sept. 19, 182 deaths nationwide were positively attributed to influenza. In Region 5, which includes Indiana and five surrounding states, 1,594 cases of H1N1 had been identified during the 2008-09 flu season as of Sept. 26.

Despite this, officials from both counties are pleased with the response to H1N1 thus far.

DuValle said everything has gone smoothly for the first round of vaccinations.

“This is a huge undertaking,” Caudill said. “It’s really larger than what we’ve ever done before. It’s a massive project, and everyone has really stepped up and been willing to do whatever they can. I am very pleased with the response of our community in being willing to participate.”