Delayed distribution of H1N1 vaccine affects school clinics

By Todd McMahon
The De Pere Journal

Administrators at Notre Dame School of De Pere were left with no other choice than to execute what more than 20 other schools in Wisconsin have done the past few weeks.

They canceled school Oct. 16 because of prevailing sickness.

"That was a tough time," Notre Dame principal Mary Vanden Busch said.

The thrust for giving students an unexpected extended weekend by closing Notre Dame's two buildings (middle school and elementary school) on that final day of the school week may have been unique. Eight of the school's 24 educators — or a third of the staff — stayed home ill.

"We had more faculty out than we were able to find subs (substitute teachers)," Vanden Busch said. "And, then, the subs were sick, too."

Notre Dame isn't alone among area schools in having student and staff populations sabotaged by a widespread flu outbreak.

N.E.W. Lutheran High School in Green Bay and Ashwaubenon High School (for two days) were briefly closed the same week as Notre Dame was. Last week, St. Paul Lutheran School in Green Bay and St. Clare Catholic School in Wrightstown locked their doors.

"We've had more kids out with the flu-like symptoms than last year," said Ben Villarruel, superintendent of the Unified School District of De Pere on the city's east side. "We are experiencing a higher absentee rate in all of our schools, no doubt about it.

"This is the earliest I've ever seen in terms of a large number of students out for flu-like symptoms. There are things that are going around, here in the schools and in the community."

In fact, one of Villarruel's schools faced a difficult situation a couple weeks ago.

He said about 130 students out of an enrollment of 470 at Heritage Elementary School were absent because of illness for two straight days. The percentage of absentees wasn't serious enough to warrant a school closure, however.

A chief culprit for the high rate of sick calls to school offices in the morning has been influenza. More specific, red flags have been raised with a new strain of H1N1 influenza, which was more commonly referred to as swine flu in previous incarnations.

"We know H1N1 is what's circulating right now," said Mary Dorn, director of the De Pere Health Department.

The increased spread of the debilitating and potentially fatal virus throughout the United States prompted President Barack Obama to declare a national emergency last weekend.

The State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported last week that 53 people in the state have been hospitalized because of an H1N1 virus infection since Sept. 1 and H1N1-related deaths are at 10 since the spring.

As more and more people take ill this fall, efforts to fight the nasty bug have been complicated.

Distribution of the H1N1 vaccine from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are lagging behind.

The federal government had predicted in the summer that up to 120 million doses of the vaccine would be available by now. Instead, only about 15 million doses were available for state health departments to order on behalf of their community agencies.

"It's a play-by-play, day-by-day of what we can do," said Dorn, who is in regular contact with the state Department of Health Services.

The lingering delay in receiving its allotment of the H1N1 vaccine isn't good news for the De Pere Health Department.

Department officials arranged to conduct in-school H1N1 vaccination clinics at many of the city schools in the next couple weeks. Some schools set tentative dates for those clinics and others did not.

"Our goal was that we would be in the schools the first week of November," Dorn said. "That was from the initial planning from the state. Until we hear from the state this week of what the re-prioritization probably will be, I wouldn't even want to make an estimate (on when the clinics will be held). For sure, we're not going to make it next week, unless something happens this week with vaccine supply."

The health department is coordinating the clinics during the school day at the high schools, middle schools and intermediate school in De Pere's two public school districts. Letters explaining the vaccination process and consent forms were mailed to parents/guardians of those students.

After-school clinics also have been planned for the younger children in the elementary schools of the two school districts and also at the parochial schools.

"Our game plan is set for where we can go. We're ready," Dorn said. "We want to vaccinate as many kids as we can."

The free H1N1 vaccination to be given at the schools is optional.

Children ages six months to 18 years fall into target groups by the state for priority in receiving the H1N1 vaccination.

De Pere's health department previously received a shipment of a few hundred doses of the vaccine, which were administered to health-care workers who have direct contact with patients.

What was left of that small supply was taken to Syble Hopp School for an in-school clinic Tuesday. The school serves children and young adults in Brown County with mental and physical disabilities.

"That's going to be a question that people are going to say, 'Why are Syble Hopp students being done and my child's school isn't being done?'" Dorn said. "All of us have that different level of risk for complications, but when you have underlying medical conditions, you're much higher on that next level."

While Dorn and her staff, who will be aided by more than a dozen registered nurses who were hired to work the school clinics, await a bigger shipment of the H1N1 vaccine to take to the local schools, they are preaching precautionary measures to parents/guardians and their children.

"Stay home when you're sick, wash your hands and cover your cough," Dorn said. "If we can get people to do that, we're going to help reduce the spread. Vaccination is probably our most efficient method of stopping the spread of a disease, but we can do a lot to help stop that spread."

H1N1 Flu

What Is It?

The 2009 H1N1, which was referred to as "swine flu" early on, is a new influenza virus that causes illness in people. The new virus was first detected in people in the United States in April this year. The virus is spreading from person to person, probably in much the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread, such as through coughing or sneezing of people with influenza. Or, people may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose. Infected people may be able to infect others beginning one day before symptoms develop and up to seven or more days after becoming sick.

Symptoms

Similar to those of seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue, as well as diarrhea and vomiting.

Preventive Measures

Wash hands, cover mouth or nose when coughing or sneezing, get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage stress, drink plenty of fluids, eat nutritious food, try not to touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus, avoid close contact with people who are sick, stay at home from work or school if stricken with any of the symptoms

Sources: pandemic.wisconsin.gov and De Pere Health Department