Swine flu is being investigated as the possible cause in the death of an infant in Snohomish County earlier this week.
News of a possible swine flu death came Wednesday, the same day officials announced they were cancelling all public mass vaccination clinics in November. Clinics had been planned for Nov. 7, 14 and 21.
Instead, whatever vaccine is available will be distributed to local clinics. Production problems have caused a shortage of vaccine nationally. However, some 10 million doses were expected to be delivered to medical offices across the nation this week, according to federal health officials.
The Snohomish Health District began distributing its limited supply of vaccine to medical offices on Wednesday, according to Christopher Schwarzen, a spokesman for Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon.
However, not all medical offices will have the vaccine and no local pharmacies will have it until the supply improves, Schwarzen said.
People can call local clinics to see if the vaccine is available. A list of Snohomish County clinics that have swine flu vaccine will be posted at www.snocoflu.com. It will be updated about once a week.
The Snohomish Health District will provide the immunization by appointment at its clinics in Everett on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and at its Lynnwood clinic on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Schwarzen said.
The possible death of an infant from swine flu was confirmed Wednesday evening by a source who is involved in the countywide response to the epidemic. Confirmation of the cause of death could take a week or more.
Few other details were available. The infant is believed to be 6 months old or younger.
Officials with the public health agency in Snohomish County refused to comment Wednesday on the possibility that swine flu was even being considered in an infant’s death.
“We deal in facts,” said Suzanne Pate, Snohomish Health District spokeswoman.
Two people in Snohomish County have died from swine flu, including a man who was the third to die in the nation.
Both local deaths occurred in the spring.
Since then, more than 5,000 people have died from the virus around the world, according to the World Health Organization.
Snohomish Health District, working with local medical groups, helped lead a massive effort to vaccinate high-risk children and adults against swine flu through two weekends of public immunization clinics in October.
The first was directed at pregnant women and young children. Pregnant women are six times more likely to suffer complications from swine flu.
The most recent effort, which was on Halloween, had more than 22,000 children and adults vaccinated in Snohomish County at 10 sites.
The mass vaccination clinics were held as a second wave of swine flu struck this fall.
A lack of vaccine for the virus has led to increasing school absenteeism, medical offices being swamped with sick patients and more hospitalizations and deaths from swine flu.
Hospitals are limiting the number of visitors patients can have, asking people with flulike symptoms to stay home, and barring children under 12 from visiting patients — all in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus at a time when few people have received swine flu immunizations.
Until the vaccine supply increases, doses available at local clinics will be reserved for those at highest risk for complications from swine flu. They include: pregnant women, people who have contact with infants under 6 months, children and young adults from 6 months to 24 years old, those between the ages of 25 to 64 years old with chronic health conditions, teachers and child-care workers 64 or younger.
It could be December of January before enough vaccine becomes available locally so that anyone who wants it can get it.
Typically, influenza causes the most serious illness and deaths among seniors. But swine flu has been called a young person’s disease because it is hitting them far harder than older adults.
More people under age 65 have been hospitalized with swine flu in the past two months than in most flu seasons, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nationally, 119 children have died from the virus.
In Washington, 19 people have died from swine flu since Sept 19.
One was a baby boy under age 1 from Franklin County, according to Donn Moyer, a spokesman for the state Department of Health. The rest were 18 or older.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486, salyer@heraldnet.com.
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