|
Public Service Announcement:
The State of West Virginia has provided
the Jackson County Health Department an
additional 100 doses of
seasonal influenza vaccinations.
The vaccine will be administered at the
Health Department on Wednesday,
January 20th at 8:00 a.m.
At this time, seasonal influenza will
be available for anyone regardless of
age. Individuals should bring their
Medicare/insurance card if they have
one. This will probably be the last
seasonal influenza clinic this season.
We encourage everyone to get their
seasonal influenza vaccine and remind
you that the H1N1 vaccine does not
replace the seasonal influenza vaccine.
For maximum protection, you will need
both vaccines.
We are working with the Jackson County
Board of Education to focus on school
children. We are conducting county-wide
school based clinics. We encourage each
parent to read the information that was
sent home with your child carefully and
then complete and return the consent
form back to the school. The vaccine is
not mandatory; however, we encourage all
parents to have their child(ren)
vaccinated. If you child has had the
flu, CDC still recommends immunization
to increase immunity.
Since the vaccine supply is somewhat
limited, we will be vaccinating one
school at a time until the entire school
population has had the opportunity to be
vaccinated. We asked for your patience
until we get to your child’s school.
Heritage Christian Academy, Ripley
Elementary, Gilmore Elementary,
Ravenswood Grade, Henry J. Kaiser
Elementary, Cottageville Elementary,
Evans Elementary, Kenna Elementary, and
Fairplain Elementary students have been
vaccinated. Ravenswood Middle,
Ravenswood High, Ripley High and Ripley
Middle will be completed the week of
November 15th.
After completing the school based
clinics, we will then turn our focus
to the high risk targets groups which
include:
-
Parents/guardians of children
younger than 6 months of age,
- People 6
months to 24 years of age, and
- People 25 to
64 years of age who are at higher
risk for 2009 H1N1 flu complications
because of an underlying health
condition or compromised immune
systems.
We encourage you to
check back to this site for upcoming
information regarding clinic dates.
Remember, the H1N1
flu vaccine does not replace the
seasonal flu vaccine – you should have
both for maximum protection!
Seasonal Flu verses HINI Flu “What are
they talking about???”
The Jackson
County Health Department would like to
take this opportunity to eliminate some
of the confusion and questions regarding
this year’s flu season. The criteria
that counties statewide will be
following will be directed from the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) and are constantly
changing.
Jackson
County Health Department would like to
inform you of the information that we
currently have available. For certain,
flu vaccination season is going to be
completely different this year.
Seasonal
flu vaccine is defined or referred to as
the flu vaccine we get every year in the
fall and is recommended for anyone over
the age of 6 months who wants to prevent
getting seasonal flu. In the past it was
recommended to wait later in the fall to
get vaccinated. New research has shown
that the flu shots given early in the
fall provide the same amount of immunity
as those given in late fall or the early
winter months. Basically the protection
from the flu vaccination lasts the whole
season regardless of when vaccinated.
The goal of the Jackson County Health
Department is to start vaccinating once
we have received our vaccine for
seasonal flu in early September and
complete Influenza Information vaccine
prior to the H1N1 campaign beginning in
November.
HINI Swine
flu will be a new flu vaccine offered
this year with a completely different
set of guidelines and criteria. The
novel HINI vaccine is not intended to
replace the seasonal flu vaccine. It is
recommended to be used alongside
seasonal flu vaccine to protect people.
We anticipate shipment of this vaccine
to be delivered to the county health
departments in early October. Those
that normally received the seasonal flu
shot may not qualify for the HINI
vaccine. The guidelines from CDC target
a completely different population – our
youth and young adults. To date those
that qualify for the vaccine according
to the guidelines from the CDC are
pregnant women, household contacts and
caregivers to those less than 6 months
of age, healthcare personnel and
Emergency Medical Services, all persons
6 months through 24 years of age,
persons aged 25 through 64 years who
have health conditions associated with
higher risk of medical complications
from influenza, and when
quantities are available those at risk
for infection 65 years of age or older.
This will be the first time in many
years that we could be going into the
school system to vaccinate all school
aged children and school staff.
We realize
this will be a huge adjustment and
change from previous years of how flu
vaccination clinics have been held. We
ask for your patience due to the fact
that information is constantly changing
from the CDC. We are committed to
keeping you informed with the most
accurate information that we have
available. Watch the Jackson
Newspaper or call our office after 4:00
p.m. for a recorded message of clinic
dates as they become available.
Additional
Links:
|
