Testing It Up

A CNN report shared that Federal officials are urging Americans to get vaccinated against swine flu. Lately, states have been reporting “sporadic or local flu activity,” but that should not make people complacent, according to the Head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Anne Schuchat. Dr. Schuchat stressed that “the virus is still a threat.”

To date, 70 million Americans, a figure that comprises 23.4% of the population, have been vaccinated against swine flu, according to the CDC. This figure is satisfactory, according to Dr. Schuchat; nevertheless, she continued to urge those who have yet to get vaccinated to do so. She was quoted with the following statement: “Individual cases of H1N1 continue to occur and people are being hospitalized and they’re dying.”

The comment thread to the CNN article, though, seems to indicate that the public is not all too convinced about the need to get swine flu vaccines. Some readers went as far as saying that only the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the vaccine are benefiting from the drive to get vaccines.

Doctors in Indiana are getting worried about the fact that a majority of children – roughly two-thirds – who have received their first dose of the H1N1 vaccine have yet to receive their second dose. Without the second dose, children are still not fully protected from the H1N1 flu strain.

It may be a good time as any to remind parents about this fact. It is imperative that children are brought back for the second dose in order to become fully protected from getting sick with swine flu.

In Indiana, an estimated 300,000 children have received the H1N1 flu vaccine. Only 85,000, however, received both doses.

Dr. Joan Duwve, the medical director for public health and preparedness for the Indiana State Department of Health, explained how the flu vaccine doses work in children. The first dose only serves to “wake up” the immune system, introducing it to a virus that it has not seen before. It is the second dose, also known as the booster shot, which serves to protect the child.

In order to remind its citizens of the need to bring their children back for the second dose, the Health Department will be mailing postcards to the parents of children who have already received their first dose over the next few weeks. The postcards will remind them to take their child to the local clinic or their doctor for the booster shot.

The State Department of Health will continue to provide its free public clinic on Tuesdays at the Carew Medical Park through the end of February.