LAKE COUNTY ? About 700 doses of the swine flu immunization mist trickled into Lake County, but Public Health has not received any and doctors will strictly limit who gets the first set of vaccinations.
Dr. Karen Tait, Lake County Health Officer, said healthy children between the ages of 2 and 9, healthy people who live with or care for infants 6 months old and younger and health care workers will top the list for swine flu nasal mist immunizations. Public Health and medical providers will make announcements or inform patients once they start administering the immunizations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prioritizes vaccinations to those who are at risk for medical complications from swine flu, also known as H1N1, Tait said.
Four people have been hospitalized for swine flu and no one has died from the illness as of Sept. 26 in Lake County, which equals 5.99 hospitalized cases per 100,000 population, according to the California Department of Public Health. In California, 188 people had died and 2,510 people were hospitalized as of late September, amounting to 6.49 people hospitalized per 100,000 population.
Doctors don”t report swine flu cases to the health department unless they hospitalize the patient or the patient dies, Tait said.
“So if people have flu symptoms such as fever, coughing and sore throat, there”s a pretty good chance it”s H1N1,” Tait said. “All those people seem to be getting over it at home.”
Because the nasal mist is a live virus, only healthy, non-pregnant people can receive the immunization, Tait said. The mist gives people a mild infection in the nose that “normal immune systems would keep in check,” Tait said.
“It doesn”t make a person feel sick but it stimulates an immune response right there in the nose,” Tait said. “It”s very safe.”
Both the seasonal flu and swine flu vaccination shot don”t have live viruses and cannot make people sick with flu symptoms, Tait said.
Public Health expects another shipment of swine flu immunizations possibly in early or mid-November, Tait said. Pregnant women, people whom live with or care for infants, health care workers, younger children, working up to people age 24, and people 25 and older with health complications will be prioritized. Eventually, healthy people 25 and older and those older than 65 can get the immunization, Tait said.
“Once it”s widely available, we”re not going to say ?wait” to anybody,” Tait said.
Lake County may receive 48,000 doses of the swine flu vaccine, Tait said.
“The illness itself is a lot like the seasonal flu,” Tait said.
One difference is that swine flu hospitalizes children and young adults more often than it affects the elderly the way seasonal flu does, Tait said.
Of the severe H1N1 cases, 85 percent have a chronic illness, such as obesity, diabetes and lung diseases like asthma, Tait said. Doctors may consider a person obese with a body mass index of 35 or more.
Pregnancy is also a severe risk factor. Of hospitalized women of childbearing age ? from about 12 to 55 ? 23 percent were pregnant, a larger percent than the pregnant population, Tait said.
Babies are at risk because they don”t have immunities to fight the flu, Tait said. Small children share a lot of germs, as well as teenagers who share lipstick and water bottles and young adults in dorms and classes.
“If you have a mild flu and are reasonably healthy, you probably don”t need to go to the doctor, don”t need the test and don”t need antiviral drugs,” Tait said.
If flu symptoms arise, students, school staff and health care workers should stay home for a week and until they haven”t had a fever for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication, Tait said.
“The goal is to keep schools functioning and I think the best way to do that is to minimize transmission,” Tait said.
Low-risk facilities where people don”t have close contact or share workspaces might be OK to return to work after 24 fever-free hours without ibuprofen or acetaminophen.
“My concern is you don”t always know what your co-workers” health conditions are, they could have a 6-month-old baby,” Tait said.
Businesses should have a policy for staff if they become ill, by staggering shifts and using telecommuting to reduce risk, Tait said.
Tait said she thinks it”s important people get both the seasonal flu shot and the swine flu vaccination.
“I think all the people who normally get a flu should get it, especially older adults, people with chronic illnesses and the very young,” Tait said.
Contact Katy Sweeny at ksweeny@record-bee.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
