The millions of students now back in school aren't just learning about reading, writing and arithmetic. They are being educated about the dangers of a possible swine flu epidemic. Here in Texas, as well as across the USA, the flu warnings have parents reminding their children to wash their hands often, use sanitizers and cover their mouths when coughing.
The concern is understandable. Forty deaths have been confirmed in Texas, and the state health department says 65% of the more than 5,200 cases of H1N1 flu recorded from April through July were children ages 5 to 18.
While Americans have been given daily doses of heated exchanges on the cost of national health care, less debate has gone into a critical school health issue: Should clinics or programs be established on campuses to administer the swine flu vaccine? In a word, yes. According to Tom Skinner, spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although the "issue is being left up to individual states," the CDC recognizes that local governments might want to use schools as shot clinics. In fact, Skinner says hundreds of schools have already done so.
What are the others waiting for? After all, schools and day care facilities are gathering places for the majority of our children. A recent AP poll found that nearly two-thirds of parents were likely to grant permission for the vaccine if their child's school offered it.
Easy access to vaccinations is critical to beating this flu. Though the CDC had hoped to have more than 120 million doses of the vaccine ready by mid-October, that number has been scaled back to 45 million because of production issues. The remaining doses will trickle in each week through December.
With state health departments slashing budgets, school districts should take advantage of federal grants to set up in-school clinics. For the most part, Skinner says, the vaccines will be free. But parents who prefer their own doctor and can afford it can get their children inoculated as soon as the vaccine is available.
The potential for a pandemic will test our public health officials, businesses, schools and communities. In order to prevent a tragic outbreak, this is one test this country must ace. In-school clinics would allow us to use our public education facilities to battle a virus that, after all, closed 850 schools during last flu season just in Texas. Most important, maybe more lives will be saved -- especially those of our precious children.
Joyce King is a freelance writer in Dallas.
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