‘Only matter of time' until swine flu strikes

County, schools are confident of response

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009

With the report of at least one confirmed case of the virus at Calverton School in Huntingtown in Calvert County last week, local health officials said it's only a matter of time before the ailment hits Charles County schools.

As of mid-August — the latest statistics available — Charles County has had 33 confirmed cases of H1N1, said William Leebel, spokesman for the Charles County Department of Health in White Plains, adding the folks who have had the virus are from all age ranges.

The state is no longer requiring doctors, hospitals and other health care facilities to test for the swine flu, Leebel said. Rather, physicians are asked to report "influenza-like illnesses," to state health officials, he said.

Civista Medical Center's emergency department is reporting a moderate increase in the number of folks who are having flu-like symptoms, said Debby Shuck-Reynolds, nursing manager for the department. The cases are relatively mild, she said.

Kids in the Charles County school system are faring well so far, according to Katie O'Malley-Simpson, spokeswoman. School officials are monitoring daily both attendance and the number of students who are being sent home with flu-like symptoms, she said.

"We're not seeing any spikes in students being absent from school," she said. "It's remaining fairly consistent."

The number of students sent home with flu-like symptoms averages about one or two a day, she said.

The county health department will be receiving some of the H1N1 vaccine but exactly how much is still up in the air, Leebel said. When the vaccine is available, the first folks who will be eligible to receive it are pregnant women and people who care for or live with children younger than 6 months, he said.

The next priority group to get the vaccine will be persons 6 months to 24 years, Leebel said, adding the last priority will be folks 25 to 64.

"We want to offer the vaccine to everyone who needs it but if we get the vaccine in a tiered release we need to target the high-risk groups first," he said. "We hope that doesn't happen but right now we really don't know.

"They might start rolling it out of the pharmaceutical companies in the next couple of weeks," he added. "We're expecting to get as much as we need but we don't know exactly when we're going to get it. We'll set up shot clinics once we have the vaccine."

Officials at Civista attended an H1N1 summit in Baltimore on Wednesday where health professionals across the state were told the swine flu vaccine might be available by mid-October, said Linda Kandel, the hospital's public information officer. Civista has been preparing for a flu pandemic for the past couple of years, including conducting a countywide drill in 2007 in conjunction with other medical facilities across the state. Plans are constantly being reviewed, she said.

"The hospital has been preparing for this situation for some time," she said. "We're monitoring this very closely, and we're ready to respond."

The swine flu is somewhat different than the seasonal flu because it appears young people are catching the ailment rather than folks 50 and older, Leebel said. One of the theories is that people born in 1957 or earlier were exposed to a similar flu virus two or three times during their lifetimes and they might have built up some immunity to the ailment, he said.

The symptoms of the H1N1 virus are the same as the seasonal flu with a fever, cough, body aches and sore throat, Leebel said, adding that the flu produces a higher fever and more body aches than a cold.

The Centers for Disease Control reported that it expects cases of swine flu to hit the first peak in mid-October when 30 percent to 50 percent of the U.S. population could get the ailment.

"When you do the math it's kind of alarming," Leebel said. "It will continue to grow."

Many people might hesitate to get the swine flu shot because of fears of what side effects it will produce but people should not be afraid to get the shot, Leebel said. In 1976, a similar vaccine sickened 500 people with a neurological condition producing paralysis, and 25 people died, according to news reports. Forty-three million people got the vaccine in 1976.

"I'm going to get mine as soon as I can," he said. "The process of research and production of the vaccine is the same as it is for the seasonal flu. There are different antibodies but it's the same process.

"This is 32 years later," he added, referring to the 1976 swine flu vaccine. "Technology has moved a long way since then. A lot of the information about the 1976 vaccine was inflated and blown out of proportion. The number of people who had a reaction to the vaccine was ... lower than some people who have a reaction to prescription drugs today."

Because the nasal spray form of the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines contain a weak live virus only persons 2 to 49 years who have no health problems such as asthma or diabetes are eligible to use it, Leebel said.

The county school system will administer the flu nasal spray vaccine to elementary school students with the permission of their parents. If a child cannot use the nasal mist they will have to get the shot at the health department or doctor's office.

The best way to prevent catching the ailment is to wash your hands a lot, cover your mouth when coughing and get the flu shot, Leebel said.

"Check yourself and your kids each morning," he said. "If you feel like you're coming down with something stay home. We're not asking anyone to change their lifestyle because of the flu. Just use common sense."

Fight the flu

The Charles County Department of Health will hold seasonal flu clinics at its office at 4545 Crain Highway in White Plains.

The clinics for ages 6 months or older are scheduled from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 23, Nov. 18 and Dec. 16.

Influenza clinics will also be held in all Charles County elementary schools in October. Information about the clinics will be available to parents at each school.

The schools will only have the nasal spray form of the vaccine which can be used by people 2 to 49 with certain restrictions.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends that people 6 months to 19 years; pregnant women; folks 50 and older; anyone with a chronic condition such as diabetes and people who live in nursing homes or who live with or care for persons who are at a high risk for complications from the flu, should get the vaccine.

Vaccinations for H1N1, also known as swine flu, will be available when the county receives the vaccine but no clinics have been scheduled yet.

Call 301-609-6900 or go to www.charlescountyhealth.org.

nmcconaty@somdnews.com