Montrose and Ouray Counties Have Enough – For Now

WESTERN COLORADO – A slowdown in the nationwide distribution of the H1N1 swine-flu vaccine is being felt throughout western Colorado.

Locally, Montrose and Ouray counties have enough for now, but San Miguel County is in short supply, for now.

San Miguel County Public Health Director June Nepsky said the county has only 100 doses of the injectable vaccine; those 100 vaccines are being distributed to the San Miguel County Department of Health, Telluride Medical Center, Telluride Family Practice, all in Telluride, and to the Uncompahgre Medical Clinic, in Norwood.

Due to the limited amount, David Homer, M.D., San Miguel public health officer, is asking people to contact their doctor for vaccines only if they fall into high-risk categories.

Those include pregnant women, people who live with or care for children under 6 years of age, children ages 6-months to 4 years, and children ages 5-18 with chronic medical conditions. Health care workers are also considered vulnerable.

San Miguel County has a limited supply of FluMist, the nasal application for the vaccine, but the nasal flu vaccine spray recommended only for people from age two to age 49 who are not pregnant.

Those supplies are running low, Nepsky said. “We got less than we ordered,” she said, but “we’re down to 50” doses of FluMist, “and haven’t gotten a shipment in yet.” For information, call 970/728-4289 or visit www.sanmiguelcounty.org/publichealth.html.

Ouray County Public Health Director Cheryl Roberts said her office has not yet received all of its order either, but has enough of the vaccine for now, with about 200 FluMist and 200 injectable vaccines on hand.

Orders for the H1N1 swine-flu vaccine are placed weekly, Roberts said.

“We are not assured that we will receive what we order, but we anticipate ordering 200 additional vaccines this Thursday,” she said on Tuesday.

School vaccination clinics are planned next week at both Ouray and Ridgway schools for parents who want to immunize their children. Anyone in one of the high-risk categories can call for an appointment at Ouray County Public Health at 970/325-4570 or visit http://ouraycountyco.gov/publichealth.html.

Karen Connor, health educator for Montrose County Health and Human Services, said the county has enough vaccines for the present. Vaccines will be given at Montrose public schools and parents will be notified of the schedule. Call for information – 970/252-5000 or visit www.montrosecounty.net/hhs/.

The shortage of H1N1 swine-flu vaccines is a concern for health providers in the Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel; another cause for concern is the death of a 40-year-old Naturita man from the virus last week, Connor said.

“It should not raise the alarm,” Connor said of the death (the victim’s name has not been released), “but it should indicate that it can be a serious illness and you do need to get a vaccination.”

Montrose has both the nasal FluMist and injectable vaccines, Connor said, and free vaccines were given at local clinics last week for people in high-risk categories (and anyone else who wanted one).

“We have adequate supplies right now to vaccinate anyone coming in,” she said, “and in the interim we have enough for anyone who wants it in the county.”

The federal government had planned to release 40 million doses of vaccine to states, but announced last week that the number was reduced to between 28 and 30 million doses, reported the Associated Press.

States have reported more than 2,000 deaths from pneumonia or flu-like illnesses in the U.S. since Aug. 30; federal officials reported the deaths of 11 children last week from the virus, according to the Associated Press. Pneumonia – and sometimes a strep infection, as well – often piggybacks to become a secondary infection for victims of the H1N1 flu.

This new strain of flu strikes young people more than the old, according to the Centers for Disease Control Director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases’s Anne Schuchat, MD, who said some manufacturers are reporting delays because antigen yields are lower than expected. An antigen is the substance that prompts the generation of antibodies to create an immune response.

“We are not cutting any corners,” she emphasized, in producing the vaccines. “It's very important that this process be done safely and carefully,” she said, adding that it takes time to conduct potency and purity tests on each lot of the vaccine.

Schuchat acknowledged the slower-than-expected trickle of the H1N1 swine-flu vaccine is problematic for many state health departments, adding that the next two weeks will be challenging.

“We're all going to have to bear with the situation,” she said.

Schuchat further reported that 86 children have died of swine flu in the U.S. since it first surfaced in April, and that half of those deaths – 43 – occurred in September and early October.

Health departments in Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel counties are monitoring school absences daily.

In Ouray, the number of kids missing school because of flu or flu-like symptoms was up to 70 this week in Ridgway, Roberts said; in Ouray, just six students missed school due to the flu last week. Schools in San Miguel and Montrose counties have also seen an increase in absences, but no schools have closed. A Grand Junction elementary school closed for several days last week because of high absences due to the flu.

Schuchat said in a CDC news release that supplies of the vaccine should become more plentiful by the end of October and into November.

“We are not cutting any corners,” she said. “It is very important that this process be done safely and carefully.”

For further information on the H1N1 Vaccine in Colorado, please call the Colorado Helpline (toll-free) at 1-877-462-2911 or visit www.flu.gov.