Published: Saturday, April 3, 2010
Travelers urged to get flu vaccine
Swine flu hasn’t increased locally, but health officials warn that a new outbreak of the disease is possible.
Anyone traveling over spring break who hasn’t been vaccinated for swine flu should consider getting immunized, health officials say, noting that the virus has begun circulating again in a number of states.
“You never know who’s on your plane and where they’re coming from,” said Michele Roberts, who works in the immunization program for the state Department of Health.
Even though millions of people have been vaccinated against the disease, “flu can be pretty smart and find people who haven’t been vaccinated yet,” she said. “We know this vaccine works really well … for a disease that still continues to circulate.”
A number of states have reported new cases of the virus, with the largest numbers in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But influenzalike illnesses also are being reported in Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada.
“I think (federal health officials) are really watching this Georgia situation very carefully,” said Dr. Yuan-Po Tu, who monitors influenza issues at the Everett Clinic.“It would be a rude awakening to see a third season.”
The initial outbreak of H1N1 or swine flu began in Mexico in the spring of last year and eventually grew to a global epidemic.
Cases peaked again in the fall, but few cases have been reported locally since late January, Tu said.
In Snohomish County, nine people have died from the virus since last spring. The Snohomish Health District estimates about 20 percent of county residents have been immunized.
So far, there’s been no increase locally in swine flu cases, said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District.
“It’s clearly emerged elsewhere in the country, and I have little doubt it could make a comeback,” he said.
That makes this a good time for people to get vaccinated to prevent H1N1, Goldbaum said. “I encourage everyone to take advantage of the supply we have in the county. It’s plentiful.”
In Washington state, just under 40 percent of children and adults at highest risk of getting seriously ill from swine flu got the H1N1 vaccination, according to a federal health survey of nearly 8,500 residents.
The information on Washington’s vaccination rates were included in a state-by-state report released Thursday by the CDC.
Statewide, 37.5 percent of those given initial priority for the vaccine, such as health care workers, pregnant women and children 6 months to 24 years, were vaccinated. That’s a little above the national mean of 33.2 percent.
In children 6 months to 17 years, 36.6 percent were vaccinated. The lowest rates of vaccination — 14.5 percent — were for people between the ages of 25 and 64 without medical conditions such as asthma that put them at the head of the line for getting the shot. That may be because they had to wait until mid-December before the vaccine was made available to all who wanted it.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486, salyer@heraldnet.com.
Get the shot
For more information on where to get a swine flu vaccine, go to http://tinyurl.com/FluShotFinder.
“You never know who’s on your plane and where they’re coming from,” said Michele Roberts, who works in the immunization program for the state Department of Health.
Even though millions of people have been vaccinated against the disease, “flu can be pretty smart and find people who haven’t been vaccinated yet,” she said. “We know this vaccine works really well … for a disease that still continues to circulate.”
A number of states have reported new cases of the virus, with the largest numbers in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But influenzalike illnesses also are being reported in Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada.
“I think (federal health officials) are really watching this Georgia situation very carefully,” said Dr. Yuan-Po Tu, who monitors influenza issues at the Everett Clinic.“It would be a rude awakening to see a third season.”
The initial outbreak of H1N1 or swine flu began in Mexico in the spring of last year and eventually grew to a global epidemic.
Cases peaked again in the fall, but few cases have been reported locally since late January, Tu said.
In Snohomish County, nine people have died from the virus since last spring. The Snohomish Health District estimates about 20 percent of county residents have been immunized.
So far, there’s been no increase locally in swine flu cases, said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District.
“It’s clearly emerged elsewhere in the country, and I have little doubt it could make a comeback,” he said.
That makes this a good time for people to get vaccinated to prevent H1N1, Goldbaum said. “I encourage everyone to take advantage of the supply we have in the county. It’s plentiful.”
In Washington state, just under 40 percent of children and adults at highest risk of getting seriously ill from swine flu got the H1N1 vaccination, according to a federal health survey of nearly 8,500 residents.
The information on Washington’s vaccination rates were included in a state-by-state report released Thursday by the CDC.
Statewide, 37.5 percent of those given initial priority for the vaccine, such as health care workers, pregnant women and children 6 months to 24 years, were vaccinated. That’s a little above the national mean of 33.2 percent.
In children 6 months to 17 years, 36.6 percent were vaccinated. The lowest rates of vaccination — 14.5 percent — were for people between the ages of 25 and 64 without medical conditions such as asthma that put them at the head of the line for getting the shot. That may be because they had to wait until mid-December before the vaccine was made available to all who wanted it.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486, salyer@heraldnet.com.
Get the shot
For more information on where to get a swine flu vaccine, go to http://tinyurl.com/FluShotFinder.
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