Swine flu clinic today

The Rowan County Health Department will conduct a swine flu, or H1N1, vaccination clinic today for children as young as 6 months and those up to 24 years old, as well as health care workers.

Clinic hours will be 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or until all the vaccine has been used. It will be held at the Health Department, 1811 E. Innes Street.

A live nasal vaccine will be administered to healthy children 2 years and older and adults 24 years and younger, as well as health care workers up to 49 years old. The vaccines will be provided on a walk-in, first-come, first-served basis.

Nina Oliver, preparedness coordinator for the Health Department, said the department has about 800 doses of the nasal vaccine available.

Preservative free injectable vaccine will be provided for children 6 months through 35 months of age.

Injectable vaccine will be available for people ages 3 to 24 with medical conditions that prohibit them from receiving the live nasal vaccine and for health care workers ages 50 and older.

The following people may not get the live vaccine:

- Pregnant women

- Anyone with a weakened immune system

- Anyone with a long-term health problem such as heart disease, lung disease, asthma, kidney or liver disease, a metabolic disease such as diabetes, anemia and other disorders

- Children younger than 5 years with asthma or one or more episodes of wheezing during the past year

- Anyone with certain muscle or nerve disorders (such as cerebral palsy or seizure disorders) that can lead to breathing or swallowing problems

- Anyone in close contact with a person with a severely weakened immune system (requiring care in a protected environment, such as a bone marrow transplant unit)

- Children or adolescents on long-term care aspirin treatment

Others who should not get the live vaccine are those with an allergy to a component of the vaccine, who have had a serious reaction to flu vaccine in the past, have a history of Guillain-Barr Syndrome or an occurrence of any neurological symptom following any vaccine, completed antiviral therapy within the last 48 hours, or received a live vaccine within the past month or plan to get a live vaccine within the next month.

People who are moderately or severely ill are advised to wait until they recover before getting the vaccine. If a person has a mild cold or other illness, there is usually no need to wait.

Oliver, the Health Department's preparedness coordinator, said future vaccination clinics haven't yet been scheduled.

Health Director Leonard Wood told county commissioners earlier this week the county has received $300,000 in federal funding to pay for mass vaccination clinics. Oliver said that money is the third phase of funding, while today's clinic is being paid for with money from the first two phases.

Even with the funding to conduct the clinics, the county must wait for more vaccine from the Centers for Disease Control, which disburses it through state governments, before it can offer additional clinics.

"We're trying to scramble to put it all together as soon as we can," she said. "When we get the shipments in, we'll do the clinics."

Future clinic dates and who is eligible for them will be posted online at www.rowancountync.gov/healthdepartment as the information is available, Oliver said.