President Ford getting his swine flu shot, 1976.
Posted on 08/11/2009 1:50:43 PM PDT by neverdem
On Monday, officials at Grinnell Regional Medical Center (GRMC) participated in a teleconference with representatives of other facilities around the state, including Grinnell College, and the Iowa Department of Health, to discuss one thing—the H1N1 (also called swine flu) virus.
“The Iowa Department of Public Health covered an immense amount of information,” said Patty Hinrichs, GRMC regional public health coordinator.
“I think [Poweshiek County is] prepared.” According to Hinrichs, the state wants to communicate to everyone that the seasonal flu vaccines will continue and that people are urged to get them as soon as they can.
They will also dispense the vaccine for the H1N1 virus as soon as it becomes available under a specific order, with pregnant women the top concern.
Caregivers of children 6 years and younger are also atop the list of primary recipients, she said, because children that young cannot receive the flu vaccine.
School-aged children are also a concern. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has issued a set of guidelines for the upcoming school year for the H1N1 (swine flu) novel influenza A virus.
“We’ve received a lot of calls from nurses at area school districts,” Hinrichs said. “There are so many variables.” For example, she said, there has not been a confirmed case [of H1N1] in Poweshiek County.
Still, officials want to be prepared.
In the Grinnell-Newburg School District, officials have taken the first steps.
“The district does have in place mechanisms for alerting parents to emergencies,” said Edie Eckles, superintendent.
“As in all situations, we assess the specifics to determine the nature of our response. We will continue to reinforce good hygiene practices, and continue to be diligent in cleaning our facilities.”
Still, there is some concern because a vaccine will not reach schools until October—school starts in Poweshiek County near the end of August.
According to Tom Newton, director of the Iowa Department of Health, when students go back to school, they are going to be in closer quarters, which makes them highly susceptible.
“We won’t have the vaccine until October, and that’s the optimistic picture,” he said. “So, you’re going to have several weeks where you have the H1N1 virus spreading throughout the schools without a vaccine available.”
School officials and parents are being urged to use common sense. “If you have one child sick, that’s one thing,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. “If you have a whole host of children getting sick, that’s another.”
According to Duncan, the decision to close any school will rest with local school officials.
“We hope no schools have to close, but realistically, some schools will close this fall,” he said. “What we want to do is empower the local governments ... to make the right decision.”
It his hoped, Duncan said, that school districts can avoid the chaos of last spring when more than 700 schools across the country closed.
The U.S. government issued guidelines for schools to follow for the 2009-2010 school year. Unlike regular seasonal flu, the H1N1 virus has not acted like a regular flu virus and retreated in the summer months.
The virus has so far infected more than 1 million Americans—the CDC reports that as of July 31, there have been 353 deaths in the country, while 5,514 people have been hospitalized.
Closer to home, the first death in Iowa attributed to the virus was reported last week—health officials said that a middle-aged person from eastern Iowa succumbed to the virus.
Iowa law prevents public health officials from releasing medical information that could be used to identify a person, officials said.
“For most people, the H1N1 virus is causing mild illness,” Newton said. “This death reminds us that the virus continues to circulate in Iowa and does have the potential to cause severe illness and death.”
State officials have confirmed at least 208 cases of H1N1 in Iowa. However, the virus is no longer classified as a reportable disease.
Officials say that the virus is being treated in the same way as seasonal flu. State health officials, though, continue to stress cleanliness as a first line of defense against the virus.
The best defense, they say, is to wash hands frequently and especially after sneezing and coughing, and use a tissue or your elbow and sleeve—not your hands.
Currently, children are listed as a top priority for the first doses of any vaccine, but because of the time needed to test and manufacture the vaccine, it’s estimated that inoculations won’t begin until mid-October.
Federal officials say that states and school districts should be preparing for the possibility of mass vaccinations.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said separate guidelines would be issued soon for preschools, day-care centers and colleges and universities.
“It is really the dorm environment that presents some challenges,” Sebelius said.
UPDATED August 11, 2009 1:09 PM
President Ford getting his swine flu shot, 1976.
I wanted to update myself about adjuvants, so here's the section from IMMUNIZATION taught to second year students at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.
Weaker antigens may be rendered more immunogenic by the addition of other chemicals. Such chemicals are known as adjuvants. There are many biological and chemical substances that have been used in experimental conditions (Table 1). However, only Aluminum salts (alum) are approved for human use and it is incorporated in DTP vaccine. Furthermore, pertussis itself has adjuvant effects. Adjuvants used experimentally include mixtures of oil and detergents, with (Freund’s complete adjuvant) or without certain bacteria (Freund’s incomplete adjuvant). Bacteria most often used in an adjuvant are Mycobacteria (BCG) and Nocardia. In some instance sub-cellular fractions of these bacteria can also be used effectively as adjuvants. Newer adjuvant formulations include synthetic polymers and oligonucleotides. Most adjuvants recognize TOLL-like receptors thus activating mononuclear phagocytes and inducing selective cytokines that can enhance Th1 or Th2 responses, depending on the nature of the adjuvant.
A quarter of the way scrolling down from the top is a link at that site to the vaccine section. I haven't read that yet.
I've seen some paranoid comments about adjuvants, but this administration has a habit of causing paranoid reactions.
Wash your hands often. Eat your veggies and take lots of C and D3. Avoid the Swine vaccine. The targeted groups are probably more at risk from the vaccine than from the flu. My cousin in MA is required by law to get the vax because she cares for her daughter who has CP. Daughter is also required. Our National Health Care, when we get it, will make mandatory all sorts of “preventive” measures, many of them to be tested by the initial mass vax. The danger of untested drugs will evaporate in time as there are no more new drugs to be tested. That terrible cost drain R&D will be a thing of the past.
Thanks for posting this .
>>I got one flu shot in the Air Force long ago.Shortly following the shot I was afflicted with the most severe and longest lasting flu that I have ever had.<<
Same thing happened to me twice and my husband once.
I never get those shots and do not get the flu.
No one is experimenting on my kids btw. Baby shots, we’ve got them all, but flu shots are crap for those without pre-existing conditions.
My guess is that there was nothing but saline in Ford’s ‘vaccination.’
In an advanced Microbiology class I was taking I had to go research adjuvants. In the deep recesses of Buehler Hall at the University of Tennessee I found the original research by Koch in the German microbiological periodicals. Koch used adjuvants in many of the first vaccines against the Clostridials which are in use today. BCG and aluminum salts were in use in the 1890’s!!
Thanks for the feedback.
Ping...(Thanks, neverdem!)
The reason the MSM made such a big deal out of this flu was that it was especially dangerous for AIDS victims. Big of them to throw in fake concern for “pregnant women”...
During my tour in the Air Force we recieved mandatory flu shots. I too was very ill within 24 hrs of having the shot.
That is only the 2nd time in my life I have ever been that ill. The other time was as a child. I had never had a flu shot before or since.
My grandmothers sister used to take the flu shot annually. Shortly after the shot, every year she would become so sick with the flu. I guess since she didn’t die she thought she was doing a good thing. Her doctor always denied the vaccine had anything to do with it. Her sister who lived next door never had the flu and helped nurse her through her annual illnesses.
By the way I seldom even get a cold and haven’t had the flu since my Air Force vaccination.
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