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September
13, 2005
Little
Rock -- The Department of Health and Human Services is receiving inquiries from emergency responders concerning needed immunizations before deploying to areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
Emergency responders should receive:
- One dose of Tetanus Diphtheria (Td) vaccine if the last dose has been greater than five years.
- Hepatitis B for adults is recommended to any individual who expects to have contact with body fluids or anyone performing direct patient care if they have not previously received the 3-dose series for the vaccine.
Hepatitis A is NOT recommended for emergency responders as the incidence for exposure in flooded settings is low.
Please contact your local county health unit to receive vaccine.
Displaced citizens in crowded settings should receive:
In general, all displaced citizens should receive routine childhood, adolescent, and adult immunizations as normally recommended; however, special recommendations are needed for displaced individuals in crowded group settings (loosely defined as greater than 100 individuals living under one roof). People in such settings should receive the following as indicated:
- Influenza. Everyone six months of age or older should receive influenza vaccine. Children eight years old or younger should receive two doses, at least one month apart, unless they have a documented record of a previous dose of influenza vaccine, in which case they should receive one dose of influenza vaccine.
- Varicella. Everyone twelve months of age or older should receive one dose of this vaccine unless they have a reliable history of chickenpox or a documented record of immunization.
- MMR. Everyone twelve months of age or older and born during or after 1957 should receive one dose of this vaccine unless they have a documented record of two doses of MMR.
- Hepatitis A. Everyone two years of age or older should receive one dose of hepatitis A vaccine unless they have a clear history of hepatitis A or a documented record of immunization.
The DHHS is working closely with the CDC for additional doses of vaccine for the displaced citizens so that routine vaccine supplies will remain available to Arkansas residents.
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