The incidence of H1N1 is on the decline, but now is not the time to let down our guard, said Dr. Ted Cook, medical director of emergency services at Newton Medical Center during a question-and -answer session Tuesday at the Newton Public Library.
The Harvey County Health Department is responsible for reporting school absences during the flu outbreak. The rate of illness has gone from a high of 20 percent to 10 percent reported this week, said Rita Flickinger, director of the Harvey County Health Department.
“Although we keep hearing there are not as many people sick, we are way above normal for flu-related illness in the United States, state and county,” she said.
Although most people will recover from the flu without complications, the contagious nature of this strain of virus has meant more people are becoming infected and more people are dying, especially children, Cook said.
In the United States, 125 children have died from H1N1 this flu season, compared to 85 in a normal flu season.
About half of those have been children ages 13 to 17, Cook said.
Children also tend to spread the illness more readily than adults, the health professionals said.
Children can shed virus up to 16 days after their fever has broken.
The following groups are considered priority for the vaccine in Harvey County.
• Pregnant women.
Members of households with children younger than 6 months.
• Children ages 6 months to 9.
• Children ages 9 and older with critical health conditions.
• Adults younger than 65 with chronic health conditions.
Cook, who sits on the Harvey County committee that chose the vaccine priority groups, said he believes immunizing high-risk groups, such as young children and health-care workers has helped reduce the spread of the virus.
The health department has received 3,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine since it began being distributed in October.
Flickinger said the health department has received limited doses because the H1N1 vaccine is slower growing than the seasonal flu vaccine.
She said the health department plans to open clinics in outlying communities as soon as it has enough vaccine.
“We hope eventually we will receive enough vaccine that everyone who wants the vaccine will be able to get the vaccine,” Flickinger said.
In the meantime, the health department is trying to get the vaccine out as quickly as it gets it in.
“We are not getting the vaccine as quickly as we would like. Every week when we get it in, we get it all out. We think the best place to keep vaccine is in people,” Flickinger said.
