State directing more vaccine to universities

State health officials said Wednesday they are directing more H1N1 flu vaccine to Indiana’s college campuses in hopes of preventing or reducing a third swine flu outbreak in the state early next year.

State health commissioner Dr. Judy Monroe said Indiana’s second H1N1 flu wave, which peaked in late October, began about the time students returned to campuses for fall semester.

Since that peak, hospitalizations and visits to emergency rooms have generally declined each week. Monroe said that decline continued last week, with a 17 percent drop in hospitalizations of people with flu symptoms.

To head off a third swine flu outbreak that could start in January, she said the state is sending more H1N1 flu vaccine to counties with the state’s big college campuses to immunize more students before they leave campus for the winter holiday break.

Closer to home Jackson County Health Department is planning three Saturday clinics in December that will target specific groups considered to be at risk from H1N1 while it’s also planning to launch clinics for the general population.

December’s targeted clinics are set from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Shoppes of Seymour near U.S. 50 and Interstate 65 on Dec. 5, Dec. 12 and Dec. 19.

Dr. Kenneth Bobb, the county’s health officer, said this week clinics for the general population are being planned, but so far no dates have been set.

Bobb urged residents earlier this week to overcome any fears they may have about the vaccine and that they be inoculated when the vaccine is made available to them.

Targeted groups include:

-- Pregnant women.

-- Children between the ages of 6 months and 4 years.

-- Caregivers of those children.

-- Youth ages 4 to 25 and individuals 25 to 64 with chronic underlying health issues.

Jackson County Health Department is also operating by-appointment-only clinics scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Appointments may be made by calling the number created to handle those clinics, 521-6688.

Monroe said the goal of shifting H1N1 vaccine to universities is to immunize as many college students as possible before the winter break so they don’t return to campus ill or spread the virus during their travels.

She said there’s “a window of opportunity” for the state to reach those students over the next few weeks.

“They will be traveling, they’ll be on planes, they’ll be visiting family members,” Monroe said. “We feel that it’s really important to get that group vaccinated.”

After fall classes began in August and September, Monroe said Indiana’s highest rates of H1N1 flu were found among college-age students. To date, 84 percent of the state’s confirmed H1N1 flu cases have been among patients between the ages of 6 months and 24 years.

Monroe said more H1N1 vaccine shipments are being sent to Monroe, Tippecanoe, Delaware and Vigo counties — homes, respectively, of Indiana, Purdue, Ball State and Indiana State universities.

The state has already directed another 10,000 doses of H1N1 flu vaccine to Monroe County, home of IU’s 42,000-student Bloomington campus. It’s also looking to direct more vaccine to counties with smaller campuses.

Monroe said that as of Nov. 17, 564,094 doses of vaccine had been administered in Indiana. The state has to date ordered 1,225,200 doses.

Of the vaccines administered, 61 percent have gone to Hooisers in the 6 months-to-24-years age group. Forty percent of the state’s health care and emergency medical workers have been vaccinated, as have about 22 percent of pregnant women.

Last week, eight Indiana residents died from H1N1 flu, bringing the state’s total to 33. So far, only one Jackson County death — a Medora woman with other chronic health issues —  has been linked to the flu.

Two of the state’s eight deaths reported last week were people age 65 or older — the first time the state had seen H1N1 flu deaths in that age group.