Elementary school-age children in the Philadelphia region, including Bucks and Montgomery counties, will be among the first in the state to receive the vaccine against the fast-spreading H1N1 virus, perhaps as soon as two weeks, state health officials said Wednesday.
Pennsylvania is receiving an early, but limited supply of the nasal spray vaccine, which will be distributed on a voluntary basis to healthy children ages 5 to 9 years old in three regions where the virus is spreading fastest. The initial 58,500 doses also will be available in the north-central and southwest parts of the state.
Statewide, 2,574 cases of the new swine flu have been confirmed, including 139 in Bucks and 224 in Montgomery counties. Another 62 cases are pending confirmation statewide.
State health officials will work with private health care providers to distribute the initial vaccine doses among the first group of targeted children; once more vaccine is available, the state plans to list online local public distribution points where people can get a free vaccine, state officials said.
Locally, the Bucks County Health Department has ordered more than 100,000 doses of the vaccine, most of it for distribution to school children, Director Dr. David Damsker said. County health officials will help schools distribute and administer the vaccine, though it's unclear when the first shipment will be delivered, he added. Later, the county is planning mass public vaccine clinics, if there is enough vaccine, Damsker said.
Montgomery County Health Department has ordered15,000 doses to supplement the vaccine schools and health care providers ordered on their own, spokeswoman Harriet Morton said. She added that the county will provide schools help with developing distribution plans and administering the vaccine, if requested.
School-age children are the first group targeted because they are a group where the virus is most prevalent.
Statewide 41 percent of swine flu cases have been among children under age 18, with children ages 5 to 9 accounting for 17.5 percent of cases. The age group with the most confirmed cases - 27.5 percent - have been among 10- to 14-year-olds.
More than 70 percent of the new swine flu cases since Sept. 1 have been among people ages 5 to 24, said Dr. Steven Ostroff, acting physician general for the state Health Department.
Pennsylvania placed its first order on Wednesday for the H1N1 vaccine that the federal government is providing, the first day it could do so. More than 5,000 health care providers in the state have pre-registered so far to distribute the vaccine, according to Michael Huff, deputy secretary of health. The state could not provide information about the number of local health care providers that pre-registered.
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The first shipments of injected vaccine - the type recommended for pregnant women and adults under age 65 with chronic health conditions -will arrive in a few weeks, Ostroff said.
By January, the state anticipates receiving 7 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine, which health officials anticipate will be more than enough to vaccinate residents who want it.
Children under age 10 are recommended to receive two doses of the H1N1 vaccine to receive its full benefit, health officials said. Older children and adults are expected to need one dose only. The H1N1 vaccine does not protect against the typical seasonal flu, so adults and children will need a separate vaccine to combat that strain.
State health officials hadn't anticipated receiving any H1N1 vaccine until mid-October at the earliest. This early shipment of the flu mist gives the state a head start on what some health officials worry will be a busy flu season with both seasonal and H1N1 viruses circulating.
"To a certain degree we're ahead of the game," Ostroff said. "Having any (vaccine) available at this point is a pleasant surprise."
Ostroff doesn't anticipate that side effects from the new vaccine will be any different than those related to typical seasonal flu vaccine, but, he added, systems are in place to monitor for "unusual" patterns of a problem. The first wave of H1N1 peaked in late June then rapidly declined, Ostroff said. But in recent weeks the state has seen a renewed upsurge in cases.
Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at 215-949-4181 or jciavaglia@phillyBurbs. com. For more health and fitness info, visit Jo's blog, at www.phillyBurbs. com/opinions/blogs/courier_blogs/ jo_ciavaglia.html.
How is the H1N1 Influenza Virus Different from Seasonal Flu Virus?
The seasonal flu is comprised of several different strains of flu. The H1N1 flu strain is a novel one. Most people are not resistant to the swine flu virus, and seasonal flu vaccines are not effective to fight swine flu.
The swine flu is not different from the seasonal flu in terms of symptoms, but in the strain of the virus causing the flu.
For more about H1Ni
Visit the state Health Department Web site, www/J1N1inpa.com.
Did you know?
One reason the flu vaccine administered in a spray form is not recommended for pregnant women and adults with chronic health conditions is their immune systems are suppressed and the live vaccine in the spray does not protect as well as the dead virus used in the injected vaccine, according to Dr. Steven Ostroff, acting physician general for Pennsylvania.
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