Fri Nov 20 2009
By DARLENE PRINCE
A "tremendous response" from people getting their seasonal flu shots has left the Defiance County Health Department with no vaccine for children ages 3-18 and with a limited supply for adults.
Laura Coressel, health department director of nursing, said, "There has been a tremendous response for people getting the flu vaccine this year. There were people getting their flu shot this year that never got them before. So, we have a limited supply of adult vaccine and we are out of the children's vaccine. There still may be some children's vaccine coming. It is a wait-and-see-what-happens situation."
Also due to a heavy demand for flu vaccine, the Henry County Health Department has run out of seasonal flu vaccine for adults. However, the vaccine for children ages 6 months-18 years is still available. Children can receive their flu shots every Wednesday from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1:30-5:30 p.m. at the health department.
In Putnam County, the health department has heard of a possible case of H1N1 flu in a Continental-area woman, but it has not been officially confirmed.
The health department has a limited supply of both adult and children's vaccine. The department planned to proceed with flu-shot clinics set for adults today in Leipsic and Columbus Grove.
At the Fulton County Health Department, the supply of adult seasonal flu vaccine will be gone by the end of the day.
Mike Oricko, county health commissioner, said there has been a heavy demand for the vaccine. There are 48 doses of children's pediatric flu vaccine (for very young children) and all of the vaccine for older children has been used, but more has been ordered. Additional vaccines for adults has also been ordered, but Oricko said he didn't know if it would come.
In Paulding County, the health department is out of vaccine for adults and does not expect to receive any more. There is vaccine left for children under age 3 and they expect more children's vaccine to come later.
In Williams County, there is a limited supply of seasonal flu vaccine left for both children and adults.
In the school systems in northwest Ohio, influenza, whether it is seasonal or the H1N1 variety -- is making some students sick in Henry County, but things are fairly quiet in Defiance and Paulding counties.
In Henry County, county health commissioner Anne Goon said, "Two school systems, Liberty Center and Patrick Henry, have had more than the normal number of students absent due to influenza-like illnesses."
She said the Ohio Department of Health is not testing for influenza unless the ill person is hospitalized, if there is a cluster of illnesses or if a death is caused by the illness.
"They are only testing the most serious cases," Goon said. "They will not test all of the cluster cases, just certain ones. They would be overwhelmed if they tried to test all of the people who became ill."
At Liberty Center High School, principal Mel Rentschler said school officials believe the flu outbreak at the high school peaked last week.
"We had 60 students out last week at the height of the outbreak," he said. "Yesterday, we had 30 students out. The outbreak did not affect the middle and elementary schools."
At Defiance Elementary School, kindergarten through grade two, a spokesman said there has been nothing extreme in the number of absences. She said there had been some students with respiratory illnesses and some with fever, but not an unusual number.
The situation at Tinora Elementary School got a little more serious Wednesday with a high number of students -- 25 -- out with high fevers and coughs, according to a spokesman. She said it had been relatively quiet at the school until Wednesday.
A spokesman at Fairview High School said no unusual absences were occurring there.
Cheryl Kehnast, of the Defiance County Health Department said, "I have heard of something going around, with respiratory symptoms and fevers. But we have not heard of any reports of flu and no excessive number of children being ill."
In Paulding County, Judy Fisher, director of nursing at the Paulding County Health Department, said, "I haven't heard about anything unusual for this time of year, so far."
At Antwerp High School, a spokesman said the number of absences are normal for this time of year.
Supplies of seasonal flu vaccine are also running low at some area pharmacies.
At Walgreen's, flu shots will be given today and Friday from 2-9 p.m. Shots may be given over the weekend, if supplies are not gone.
At Wal-Mart, the personnel giving shots are supposed to be at the store on Monday and Tuesday.
At Kroger's pharmacy, flu shots are still being given on a daily basis.
And at Defiance Area Visiting Nurses, the supply of vaccine is low.
Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control is reporting that influenza activity is increasing. Visits to doctors are increasing and are higher than levels expected for this time of the year. Rates for laboratory-confirmed influenza are higher than expected for this time of year for both adults and children.
Ohio is one of 37 states reporting widespread influenza activity.
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