The Brownwood/Brown County Health Department received its first batch of H1N1 flu vaccines this week, but don’t go rushing down to get one right away as supplies are not only limited, they are targeted.
Public Health Preparedness Coordinator Emily Gore said that they received a very small shipment of the vaccine and will continue to get a small shipment of it each week for several weeks. Each of these shipments will be limited to a specific age group that it can be administered to.
This first week’s shipment is for children from ages 6 months to 3 years old. The batch that the Health Department receives next week will be only for children under 5 years old and the week after that will be for school age kids.
Gore said that the Health Department is planning on offering the vaccinations to children at school. Gore said, “A letter will be sent home to the parents with a consent form. It won’t be mandatory, it’s totally optional. We are hoping to take it to them instead of them having to come here.”
Gore said after taking a survey of some schools, parents said that they were more comfortable with a school based clinic administering the vaccine.
The the Health Department is also approaching day care centers with the same program option.
The initial shipments if the H1N1 vaccine is in the form of the flu mist nasal spray since it is for children Gore said.
After the first few weeks of small shipments, “By then we should be getting pretty regular larger shipments and that is when we will start to have the priority groups. We will be able to give it to pregnant women, people with chronic conditions, health care workers, and anyone who is a household contact of children who are under 6 months,” Gore explained.
Regarding the non H1N1 seasonal flu shot Gore said, “We have not gotten our seasonal flu vaccine in yet for adults. We did get it in for children, but we ran out this morning.”
Gore also said that they will probably not be receiving any more seasonal children flu vaccines this year as they had already gone through the entire allotted supply.
Gore explained, “We have definitely seen more people get seasonal this year than in years past. We have never run out of vaccine before.”
Regarding the type of flu in the county right now Gore said, “For the most part what we are seeing is H1N1. Again, it is no different that seasonal flu in regards to treatment. Primarily if they test positive for flu “A” the doctors are prescribing it as H1N1. That is what is circulating right now.” Gore went on to say, “99% of everyone who is testing for flu is testing positive for H1N1.”
Gore indicated that no one in Brown county has been hospitalized for the flu so far this year.
For more information about seasonal flu and H1N1, visit www.Texasflu.org or www.cdc.gov.