State plans big push to combat swine flu
7/11/09 | 13 comments

State plans big push to combat swine flu


By Meg Haskell
BDN Staff

In response to a directive from the Obama administration, states are preparing for an expected resurgence and increased severity of swine flu this fall.

In Maine, as in other states, the focus is on organizing a far-reaching H1N1 vaccination campaign, assuming that a safe and effective vaccine becomes available.

“We’re going to need all hands on deck,” said Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The logistics of planning and executing a large-scale vaccine campaign are daunting, she said Friday. It will require the cooperation and support of public health planners, medical providers, emergency response teams, nonprofit groups and more.

“The last time we really vaccinated everybody was the polio vaccine campaign in 1955,” she said.

That lack of recent experience means the Maine CDC will be working closely with other groups to provide training and support for a coordinated statewide effort. Public health officials forecast the H1N1 vaccine will be available, in limited quantities, in late fall.

Unlike the regular seasonal flu, H1N1 targets primarily children and young adults, with transmission especially robust in schools and other group settings.

One important step in combating the new virus is planned for early fall, when many schools across Maine will hold on-site vaccine clinics for the regular, seasonal influenza. Mills said participating school systems would work with the state to plan the clinics, with a goal of vaccinating as many youngsters as possible. The seasonal flu vaccine will be provided at no charge and will be voluntary.

Children who get immunized against the seasonal flu not only will be protected against that virus but also will be less likely to experience serious illness should they be infected with the H1N1 virus.

Mills said the experience of setting up school-based vaccine clinics will “grease the wheels” for setting up larger, communitywide clinics for the H1N1 vaccine, when it becomes available later in the fall or winter.

Confirmed swine flu cases among Maine residents stand at more than 100, with half again as many cases in visitors from out of state. Mills said there are many more affected people who have not been tested. Public health officials and medical providers now assume that anyone with symptoms such as a fever and cough is infected. Fortunately, Mills said, in most cases symptoms have been relatively mild, with only a handful of hospitalizations and no deaths reported.

But the combination of the seasonal flu and the H1N1 strain could very well pack a more deadly punch, she said. Because H1N1 and seasonal flu respond to different medications, and because H1N1 appears to be developing resistance to the popular antiviral Tamiflu, Mills said, prevention though vaccination and other means must be the first line of defense.

On Friday afternoon, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the availability of $1.5 million in grants to help Maine prepare for the 2009 novel H1N1 flu virus and the fall flu season.

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Comments
13 comments on this item
On 7/10/09 at 10:30 PM, angela wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Bet the vaccine kills more people in the U.S. than the virus has.

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On 7/11/09 at 12:41 AM, HeadedSouth666 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

angela, you don't have complete trust in our government?

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On 7/11/09 at 1:49 AM, MaineExpatriat wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I never get flu vaccines and I never get the flu.

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On 7/11/09 at 4:15 AM, Taxpayer wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I am just curious here...has anyone who has read this article had the swine flu themselves or personally know first hand of anyone who has had the swine flu? I am just curious. I have not had it myself and no one I know has had it but I do not get around all that much so maybe I am missing the bigger, more critical picture.

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On 7/11/09 at 7:07 AM, Amazed wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

THIS VACCINE HASN'T EVEN BEEN TESTED!!! Read the 4th paragraph in the following article:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/12/health/main5082821.shtml

Guess those that get the vaccine this year will be the guinea pigs... good luck with that. You know how responsible our wonderful government is. You can count me OUT of this pet project.

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On 7/11/09 at 7:30 AM, freewill wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Swine flu: an efficient way to thin the herd in a declining economy.

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On 7/11/09 at 7:49 AM, Amazed wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

The following is an informative site concerning the swine flu "pandemic".

http://www.squidoo.com/swine-flu-vaccine-info

Excellent information!

Make your voice heard when it comes to your rights when it comes to YOUR body.

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On 7/11/09 at 8:29 AM, JD2008 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

The best protection is still covering your mouth, wash your hands and stay home if you are sick. Having said that, when was the last time anyone can remember the "flu" spreading during the summer months?

At last check, Maine had 107 cases with no deaths. Across the United States there are currently over 37,000 cases with 211 deaths. Now many do not consider this to be a "big" deal. Well it is a big deal as it is still spreading during what is consider by those in health care to be non flu months. The other issue, this flu has spread around the world in a relatively quick period of time.

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm

Amazed….Here us the First Paragraph…”The vaccine hasn't yet been tested and cannot be used in humans yet. It was made in cells, rather than grown in eggs as is usually the case with vaccines, the company said” How do you think new medications come to the market place? They are researched, developed, tested in animals, tested in humans (volunteers), the efficacy is reviewed, it goes to the FDA, the FDA approves or disapproves the new medication and then, and only then if it receives FDA approval is it released. The Fourth Paragraph is referring to “Novartis said it would use the first batch of vaccine for laboratory testing. It may also be tested in humans, the company said” is referring to the development stage not the general release to the public after approval by the FDA.

I do not know (and neither do any of you nay sayers) where this Pandemic is headed. It may go away or it may grow by leaps and bounds. Would you rather the government and the health care providers be prepared or caught napping?

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On 7/11/09 at 8:33 AM, golferjoe wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

The fear from the media will have people lined up in the streets to get this vaccine. The company making this vaccine will make millions off this. Do you think they care if its save?

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On 7/11/09 at 10:46 AM, JD2008 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

golferjoe are you often this cynical?

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On 7/11/09 at 10:51 AM, MaineExpatriat wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

This, from the beginning, has been much ado about very little. It's just a flu and a mild flu at that. The fatality rate is just a percentage of the rate of "normal" flu viruses every year.

--- oh and all flus mutate, usually because they develop a flu vaccine.

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On 7/11/09 at 3:15 PM, Amazed wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

JD2008 7/11/09 8:29 a.m. post~ You are right, the best way to help spread the flu virus is to cover your mouth, use tissues, wash hands and stay home if you are ill. Yes, I have seen the flu spread during the summer months, in fact, I have had the flu a few times during the summer months myself. It does happen.

My concern is that these vaccines will be tested on children ages 5 through 18 as well as college people going to school, and will not be tested prior to that. What will the side affects be? This is a set up for serious medical problems in who knows how many children and adults, which may cause lasting affects such as, paralysis as well as death. Did you read the articles and look at the video's that I mentioned in my 7:07 a.m. and 7:49 a.m. posts? This could be a repeat of the vaccine given in 1976 which our government claimed was safe. I personally knew of several people who had that particular vaccine and died as well as some who nearly died as a result. Those who were fortunate enough to have lived after their near miss with death, have struggled with the repercussions ever since.

The initial vaccine that was approved in 1976, wasn't the vaccine that was used... they changed it and those who got the vaccine were given the changed version. As far as trusting our FDA... you've got to be kidding me!!! They are one of the most lax in our government. Why do you think we have so many children who have autism? Lead and mercury were found in some of those childhood vaccines as recently as 3 years ago and those same vaccines were FDA approved. Lead was removed from paint in 1977... we don't inject paint into our bodies, but it's ok to inject a vaccine with lead in it?

The FDA asked that MSG be removed from food, only to allow a list of new ingredients as long as your leg, to be added, and when combined, are MSG. I could go on and on about the many "mistakes" that the FDA has "allowed to happen", common sense tells me not to trust them.

Golferjoe~ You have common sense. Go with it!

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On 7/11/09 at 5:20 PM, Amazed wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

My 3:15 p.m. comment should have read: the best way to help NOT spread the flu virus.

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