H1N1 Peaked in PA But Another Wave Expected

Although health officials confirm that swine flu has peaked, Pennsylvania’s Acting Physician General says there is still a lot of H1N1 around.
Dr. Stephen Ostroff says there are more than 10 thousand confirmed cases in the state and that represents only a small portion of the actual number. Ostroff says there have been 57 confirmed fatalities but they believe the actual death toll is at least 4 times that. Ostroff says the spread of the disease began to slow in November but even though it’s peaked it’s still important to take precautions.
Ostroff says he was frustrated that the vaccine did not become available as rapidly as the swine flu came around in early fall but the supply and demand has about evened out. In fact, the vaccine might soon be available to people not in the five targeted groups: pregnant women, people between 6 months and 24 years old; care providers for children less than 6 months; medical personnel; and, those between 25 and 64 with underlying conditions. He says it’s still important to get the vaccine because they expect another wave of the H1N1 to hit in winter or very early spring.

Listen to an extended interview with Dr. Ostroff

Swine Flu Vaccine Clinics Today

The Pennsylvania Department of Health is offering free swine flu vaccine clinics for high risk groups starting today. Spokeswoman Stacy Kriedeman says they continue to target at-risk groups, including pregnant women, people between 6 months and 24 years old, care givers for babies less than 6 months old, health care personnel, and people between 25 and 64 with underlying conditions. However, those at-risk groups comprise about half of Pennsylvania's 12 million residents. To date, Pennsylvania has received 1.7 million doses of vaccine and is getting about 400,000 to 500,000 doses each week.
The clinics in Allegheny County today are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Chartiers Valley High School in Collier Township, McKeesport High School, North Allegheny High School in McCandless, and Pittsburgh Schenley High School in East Liberty.

Some PA Residents to Get Free H1N1 Vaccine

After weeks of delays, the Pennsylvania Department of Health is offering free clinics to provide H1N1 vaccines to high-risk groups.

Those groups are pregnant women, people under 24 years old, medical and health care personnel, people who care for children younger than six months, and anyone aged 25-64 years with a serious medical condition.

Department of Health Spokeswoman Stacy Kriedeman says this is a crucial time for vaccinations, because the H1N1 threat is far from over.

“It’s important that people, particularly those in the recommended groups, continue to get vaccinated against H1N1,” says Kriedeman. “We also anticipate there will be a third wave of this pandemic, so we don’t want people to get complacent.”

Vaccines can be found in the injection and nasal spray form at eighteen sites across the state. Anyone who wants vaccination must download and complete a consent form online at < www.h1n1PA.com >.

Southwestern Pennsylvania sites for H1N1 vaccination:

• Richland Township Fire Department
1321 Scalp Avenue, Johnstown PA, 15904
(Cambria, Somerset, and Indiana Counties)
• Mon Valley State Health Center
Eastgate 11, Monessen PA, 15062
(Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties)
• Butler County State Health Center
100 Brugh Avenue [Suite 201], Butler PA, 16001
(Butler, Armstrong, and Beaver Counties)

Allegheny County H1N1 vaccination sites:

• Chartiers Valley High School
50 Thoms Run Road, Collier
• McKeesport High School
1960 Eden Park Boulevard, McKeesport
• North Allegheny High School
10375 Perry Highway, McCandless
• Schenley High School
129 Denniston Avenue, East Liberty

3rd Confirmed Case Of Swine Flu in County

A student at Carson Middle School in the North Allegheny School District has been diagnosed with swine flu: the third confirmed case in Allegheny County. The County Health Departemnt says the student has been recovering at home and no family members show signs of the illness. The North Allegheny District has not noticed higher levels of absenteeism, so Carson Middle School will remain open. The other county residents diagnosed with swine flu have recovered.

Notes from BIO: A "Fire Drill" on Flu

When it comes to the "swine flu" outbreak (forgive the non-PC term), its hard not to look on the dark side. Either we are facing a catastrophic outbreak we are unprepared to prevent, or we have succumbed to yet another media-stoked panic that makes us all feel silly.

Clearly the zeitgeist has tilted heavily towards the latter view, and surely we can all agree that is the better of those two choices.

Still, we were pleased when Vertex' outgoing CEO Josh Boger offered a third way of thinking about the current outbreak during a BIO "Super Session" May 20: this is a "fire drill"--testing our pandemic preparedness rather than our evacuation procedures--and like any fire drill it is only effective if everyone takes it seriously. So, if, as we all hope, this flu outbreak proves mild and manageable, we can still feel good about taking it so seriously.

Only time will tell if this outbreak is or is not the hamageddon it sounded like a month ago, but we at least were heartened that others on the panel (including FDA's point person on the flu, Jesse Goodman) adopted the "fire drill" metaphor as well. We feel better already.