Oct. 28, Nov. 4 flu clinics for students only

BANGOR, Maine — A large shipment of seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines — sent to Maine as part of a federal program to inoculate the state’s youth — arrived in Bangor last week, and a free flu shot clinic for area pre-kindergarten through grade 12 students is scheduled for Wednesday at the Bangor Civic Center.

“It’s only for schoolchildren and it’s targeted for the school systems that are [close to] to Bangor,” said Shawn Yardley, the city’s health and human services director.

The student-only flu clinic will be open 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28. A second clinic will be held during the same hours on Wednesday, Nov. 4., also at the civic center.

“With higher reports of positive tests, we just wanted to get it out into the population as quickly as possible,” Yardley said Sunday, adding that both the seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccinations are recommended.

Bangor Regional Health and Community Services is working with the school departments and will be administering the shots.

“We are highly encouraging all eligible families to take advantage of this very important public and personal health precaution,” Yardley said.

Students from Bangor, Brewer, Dedham, Orrington, SAD 22, SAD 63, RSU 14 and RSU 26 may participate in the two clinics. SAD 22 comprises Hampden, Newburgh and Winterport; RSU 14 represents Hermon, Carmel and Levant; and RSU 26 comprises Orono, Veazie and Glenburn.

John Bapst Memorial High School and All Saints Catholic School in Bangor also are participating, but Bangor Christian Schools, which got its own supply of vaccines, is hosting its own clinic, Yardley said.

“Schoolchildren from outside of these areas should check with their schools for the progress of their [flu clinic] programs,” Yardley said.

Each school participating in the coming clinics in Bangor will send home notices today, with specifics about permission slips and busing arrangements, which differ depending on school department.

For example, “John Bapst and All Saints are going to be busing their kids to the clinics,” and are requiring signed permission slips from parents be signed ahead of time.

Bangor and Brewer school districts are requiring that a parent or guardian accompany students under 18 to sign permission forms for one or both shots to be administered. Neither Bangor nor Brewer schools will provide transportation to the clinics.

The regional school departments applied for and received federal stimulus funds sent to Maine specifically for the student flu clinics, Brewer Superintendent Daniel Lee said Saturday.

“We’re all sending our school nurses there and any supplies we’ve received so far” to help out, he said.

“We’re getting these vaccines through the Maine [Center for Disease Control] and the Maine Department of Education,” Bangor schools Superintendent Betsy Webb said. “Each school district had to apply” for the flu shot funding.

For that reason, the vaccines are only for students in the partnering school departments, Lee said.

“Supplies are limited,” he said.

The state has applied for enough vaccine to vaccinate around two-thirds of the state’s student population, Yardley said.

The shipment that arrived last week in Bangor is substantial, but “we don’t have enough if every student shows up,” he said. “Our hope is between now and the 4th [of November] we’ll have additional supplies. We have more on order, and the promise of more to come.”

Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, issued letters to school departments statewide in July, asking them to consider participating in the program.

At first each school district worked independently, but it quickly became apparent to area school leaders that a partnership was the best option, Lee said.

Influenza is on the increase, and H1N1, which was first detected in Maine during April 2009, “has been the predominant influenza virus found in Maine” since then, according to the health advisory “Widespread Influenza Activity in Maine” issued Oct. 22 through the Maine Health Alert Network.

Since April, Maine has seen 487 confirmed or probable cases of H1N1, according to the CDC’s weekly update “Maine Weekly Influenza Surveillance Report,” posted online Wednesday. Of those, 16 residents have been hospitalized, and one death has occurred.

The Maine CDC stresses that people at highest risk, primarily children and pregnant women, should be vaccinated for H1N1.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that certain higher-risk groups get the 2009 H1N1 vaccine.

“These target groups include pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, health care and emergency medical services personnel, persons between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old, and people ages 25 through 64 years of age who are at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems,” the CDC’s Web site says.

“Any immunity from 2009 H1N1 influenza infection or vaccination will not provide protection against seasonal influenza,” the site says. “All people who want protection from seasonal flu should still get their seasonal influenza vaccine.”

While H1N1 vaccine supplies are now limited, public health officials recommend that eventually everyone should have both the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines. Seasonal influenza is typically most deadly for the elderly and chronically ill, and H1N1 hits pregnant women, children and young adults hardest.

To notify students and their parents about the coming clinics, Brewer sent out an Immediate Response Information System, or IRIS, alert Saturday to give parents time to make arrangements.

“This is short notice,” Lee said.

A notice about the flu clinics is already posted on the Bangor School Department’s Web site, bangorschools.net, and is expected to be posted online today at the Brewer and Dedham school departments’ Web sites, breweredu.org and dedhamme.org, and others.

Information on influenza in Maine is available at www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/maineflu.

nricker@bangordailynews.net

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