Aug. 7--Flu season this year looks as if it's going to be more of a pain than usual.
National and local health officials predict most people will need a total of three flu shots to protect against seasonal flu outbreaks and the new swine flu.
Seasonal influenza immunization will take the typical one shot, while two more will be needed to defend against the H1N1 virus. Children under 9 years old may need four flu shots: two for seasonal influenza and two for swine flu.
Sacramento-area public health officials said seasonal vaccinations should be available nationwide by the end of August or early September -- sooner than usual.
Bottom line: Experts insist that people shouldn't wait until the traditional flu season -- usually starting in November -- to get their first flu shots.
Because of the circulating swine flu, there have been new cases this summer throughout the region. As many as 95 percent of flu cases locally this summer are due to the H1N1 virus, said Dr. Glennah Trochet, Sacramento County's public health officer.
Although most healthy people hit by swine flu have suffered no greater effects than from previous variants, those with underlying health risks such as asthma or immune system deficiencies are at greater risk.
At least five deaths and 50 hospitalizations have been linked to swine flu in Sacramento County. Statewide, the death toll was 80 at the end of July.
The new swine flu emerged this winter from a rural village in Mexico and quickly spread around the globe.
Health officials said they are pushing sooner-than-usual flu shots so they can then focus on whatever greater threat might come from the H1N1 virus.
Yolo and Sacramento county health officials said the public should take advantage of the earlier distribution of the seasonal flu vaccinations.
"As soon as their provider makes them available, people should get vaccinated," Trochet said.
"The sooner you get vaccinated, the sooner you get protected," added Dr. Joseph Iser, public health officer for Yolo County.
Five companies that manufacture seasonal flu vaccines -- including one that makes a nasal spray version -- said this week they have begun testing a new vaccine to combat the H1N1 virus.
It will take between five to six months for such a vaccine to be approved for distribution, according to the World Health Organization. Trochet said she doesn't expect to have a vaccine for the pandemic-causing H1N1 virus until the end of this year or the beginning of 2010.
Although trials are still under way, health officials said people will likely need two shots of the swine flu vaccination to be effectively immunized.
"It's possible people will need to get two shots for the novel H1N1 virus: one and then another three weeks later," said Joe Quimby, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Because it is uncertain how much of the H1N1 vaccine supplies will be readily available, Quimby said local and state health departments will be responsible for doling out the shots.
Trochet and Iser said county public health agencies will follow CDC guidelines for distribution of both vaccines.
For swine flu, pregnant women, health care and emergency services workers, people between the ages of 6 months and 24 years, and those with impaired immune systems and chronic health disorders are high-priority populations. For the regular flu vaccine, the very young and the elderly are high priorities.
Swine flu does not appear to affect the elderly in the same way as seasonal flu, health officials said.
The problem, they say, is that because flu viruses affect different populations, in the end, everyone may need to be vaccinated this season.
"With swine flu, we're seeing the highest rates of infection among people between the ages of 5 and 24," Quimby said.
"When you combine the high-risk populations for the novel H1N1 virus and the seasonal flu, you have, essentially, the entire population that's going to need a vaccination."
Local health care providers are poised to distribute seasonal flu inoculations. They don't know how the H1N1 vaccine will be allocated.
Getting the public to show up for one flu shot is hard enough; getting them in for three seems daunting at best, health officials said.
"It's very logistically difficult," said Iser, adding that, if possible, Yolo County will try to give out both seasonal and swine flu vaccines at the same time to mitigate public confusion.
"If we can and we know it's safe to give them out at the same time, that's what we'll do," he said. "We want to do what's best for the public."
In Sacramento County, Trochet said officials will try to bring vaccines to workplaces, public venues and clinics.
Schools, which will be set up to give children up to four flu shots -- two shots of the seasonal flu vaccine for those under the age of 9 who have never had a flu immunization before and two shots of the swine flu vaccine -- will get the necessary supplies, Trochet said.
Another 13 community clinics will be able to provide shots to seniors and people at higher risk. There will even be a drive-through vaccine station, she said.
Yolo, Placer, Nevada, Sacramento and Sutter counties have collaborated on a simple message to the public.
"We have been planning to ensure that everyone who needs a vaccination has access to one," Trochet said.
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Call The Bee's Marissa Lang, (916) 321-1087.
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