Vaccine scarce, clinics still planned

Submitted photo The sign in front of Stoddard County Public Health Center at Bloomfield tells the story. The clinic ran out of adult flu shots during Wednesday's shot clinic. [Click to enlarge]

As influenza continues making its way into Stoddard County, county health officials are working hard to get the vaccines out to those who need it.

The demand this year has been high, as has been the need, even though so far there have only been 45 total confirmed influenza cases.

Among those have been 36 Type A, two Type B, 3 confirmed H1N1 and four of unknown type.

As has been reported in previous stories, anyone testing positive for Type A influenza could quite possibly have H1N1. Because the cost of the H1N1 test is over $500 and not required by law, most patients opt against it because the treatment is exactly the same as for Type A.

The Stoddard County Health Department held its first two public flu shot clinics this Tuesday and Wednesday and gave immunizations until they ran out of the adult shot.

According to Director Debbie Pleimling, the center allots a certain amount of seasonal flu vaccine for each of the clinics to be held throughout the county based on how much they used at each location the prior year.

"We gave all the vaccine that we set aside for our in-house clinic yesterday morning," Pleimling said Wednesday. "We still have the vaccine that we will be taking to Bernie, Bell City/Advance area, Puxico, and to the Dexter nutrition site. So those clinics are still scheduled."

She said they do expect to receive additional vaccines as the weeks go on, but they plan to make weekly decisions as to further clinics.

Pleimling also said they expect to receive approximately 100 doses of the H1N1 Flumist Intranasal by mid-October.

The vaccine will only be given to healthy individuals who fall into the following categories:

* pregnant women,

* persons who live with or provide care for infants older than six months (e.g., parents, siblings, and daycare providers),

* health-care and emergency medical services personnel who have direct contact with patients or infectious material,

* healthy children two to four years of age

The health center does not have the vaccine for pregnant women. They will have to fall in one of the above groups.

She said that no clinics will be scheduled until the vaccine "gets in our doors."

In Stoddard County schools, the flu seems to have hit the hardest in Bernie, with Thursday's attendance at the high school level down to 82 percent, compared to a normal rate of about 96. Bernie's elementary school attendance was at 92.5, again considered low for the period.

Dexter's attendance is still strong, with Thursday's percentage of attendance at Southwest Elementary reported to be at a near normal 96 percent and Central Elementary's at 94.9 percent.

At T.S. Hill Middle School, Assistant Principal Chuck Powers reports that only 10 students were out sick on Thursday, which placed their percentage at nearly 96.7.

Powers supplied comparative figures for the two previous school years and said that the combined attendance percentage for August and September at the middle school level stood at 96.7 percent.

"This year's actually surpasses that percentage," Powers stated. "We were at 96.78 this year for August and September."

Attendance at Dexter High School held firm at nearly 95 percent.

"Attendance at Dexter schools remains good," said Dexter Supt. Dr. Ken Jackson. "Should our attendance drop to the 75% range in multiple buildings, we would give consideration to closing school. Hopefully, this will not be necessary."

Bloomfield schools also seem to be doing well according to Superintendent Dr. Nick Thiele.

So far this year the average attendance is over 95-percent with the lowest day so far at approximately 92-percent.

Thiele said that even though their numbers have stayed good, the district is not letting its guard down as they continue to have kids take Clorox wipes to their desks multiple times each day and having maintenance personnel disinfect all contact surfaces in the school every afternoon.

In Richland Schools, attendance in the elementary building stood at 98 percent today, gaining a full two percent over Wednesday's attendance percentage. The same story held true at Richland High School, with 94 percent in attendance on Wednesday and 96 percent present on Thursday.

Local daycare centers also seem unaffected by the flu virus. According to Tanya Guthrie, director of Small Wonders Child Development Center in Dexter, their attendance has actually been on the rise.

"We've experienced more perfect attendance days over the past several weeks than we have ever experienced," said Guthrie Thursday.

Attendance at DAEOC's Head Start facility in Dexter, the center's director, Faye Hutchison, reports their student attendance to be at about 82 percent, which she called "about average." The local Head Start center has a total of 120 preschoolers currently enrolled.