With extremely early flu cases being seen across the Tri-state and around the nation, many families will soon be faced with what could be a difficult choice: Do I and my family take the new H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine, that's now being tested at Cincinnati Children's Hospital?
That's a question many families, college students and parents will have to ask themselves, especially since area public health departments plan to start offering the vaccine at schools and colleges since young people under 24 years old are considered prime targets for the H1N1 flu's complications.
We've already seen a teenage boy and his older sister die from H1N1 Swine Flu complications in Southeastern Indiana over the summer.
The Centers for Disease Control and the Hamilton County Public Health District are urging H1N1 flu vaccinations, when they become available in October and November, for pregnant women, health care and emergency workers, people living with or caring for children under 6 months old, as well as all young people between the ages of 6 months to 24 years old. People with chronic health problems and weakened immune systems between 25 and 64 years old will also be encouraged to get the new vaccination.
Swine flu has already swept through several Tri-state colleges and universities, including Xavier University, Miami University and the University of Cincinnati. Xavier University canceled all large gatherings through the Labor Day weekend because there are over 110 suspected cases there, and they hope to prevent this flu virus from spreading further through its student body.
Miami University in Oxford has asked sick students to stay in their rooms and wear face masks when meals are brought to their rooms. At least 69 suspected cases have been reported at that school.
National public health officials and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Neapolitan says we should all expect a 'big influx' of H1N1 Swine Flu cases nationwide, through the late summer and fall.
There have already been over 556 deaths in the United States, as of the first week of September, that have been linked to this new strain of the flu. It's predicted that anywhere from 30% to half the United States population could catch, what experts are now calling the "2009 H1N1" flu. Deaths across the country could run between 30,000 (which is the flu death toll in a typical year) up to as many as 90,000.
Since it's expected there will be an initial shortage of the H1N1 flu vaccine, when its approved for use in October, initial vaccinations may be limited to the groups considered most at risk. The Hamilton County Health District says it is already making plans to distribute the new vaccine through schools, since school children are among the high risk groups for complications. That means parents can expect notes coming home from schools asking their permission for their child to get the vaccination.
