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November 13,
2007
Little Rock --
The Arkansas Department of
Health (ADH) set a new record for its Mass Dispensing Flu
Exercise and immunized 100,541 Arkansans against influenza
last week. The shots were dispensed during a three-day mass
flu vaccination clinic with 81 health units statewide
participating.
The purpose of the drill was to
exercise the state’s mass dispensing plan that is designed
to insure that health professionals and volunteers are
prepared to vaccinate or dispense medication to a large
population in a very short period of time. If Arkansas were
ever to experience pandemic influenza or another such
disaster, it might be necessary to distribute medications to
many citizens quickly. “The time to practice dispensing
large amounts of medication is now, before we have a
disaster,” said Dr. William Mason, director of the Emergency
Response and Preparedness Branch.
“Arkansas continues to lead
the nation in this type of public health response,” Mason
said. “On a per capita basis, we have demonstrated that with
the cooperation of our state, county, and municipal agencies
along with citizen volunteers and local public health units,
we not only achieved, but exceeded our targeted goal of
vaccinating 60,000 residents.”
“We can attribute the success
of these clinics to the collaborative effort between the local
public health units and the many citizen volunteers,” said
Randy Lee, director, ADH Center for Local Public Health.
“This was a real community effort.”
“We have gotten off to a good
start, but we need to continue the vigilance,” Mason said.
“If you missed the vaccination clinics, it is not too late
to receive a flu shot. Your physician, pharmacist and local
public health unit can administer the vaccine. Shots cost $20
at the local health units for anyone not enrolled in Medicare,
Medicaid or the Vaccines for Children Program.”
Influenza is a contagious
respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. It can cause
mild to severe illness and results in 25-50 million infections
and 36,000 deaths in the United States
each year.
Influenza symptoms include
fever (usually high), headache, extreme fatigue, sore throat,
muscle aches, dry cough, runny or stuffy nose, and
occasionally stomach symptoms such as nausea, vomiting or
diarrhea.
The influenza virus is spread
through coughing or sneezing and by touching a hard surface
with the virus on it and then touching your nose or mouth. The
best way to prevent the flu is to get vaccinated each year.
You cannot catch the flu from
the vaccination. The vaccination uses a dead virus and cannot
cause you to get the flu. The vaccine usually becomes
effective two weeks after being administered; therefore, the
best time to be vaccinated is October to November. However, it
can still be beneficial to get the vaccine even later as
typical flu season runs from mid-December through March.
Though all persons over 6
months of age should bet a flu shot each year, those most at
risk for influenza disease complications are: those in nursing
homes, individuals over 50 years of
age; persons with chronic diseases of the heart, lung
and kidneys, or who have diabetes, asthma, immunosuppression,
or severe forms of anemia; women who will be pregnant during
flu season; children and teens on long-term aspirin therapy.
Children six months through five years of age should receive
the flu vaccine due to the increased probability of severe
illness in this age group. Daycare situations make these
children especially vulnerable. Health care workers are also
at greater risk for passing influenza infection on to
high-risk individuals and should be vaccinated.
An influenza vaccination offers
70 percent to 90 percent protection against infection and can
decrease the severity and side effects if you do get sick.
For more information on
seasonal influenza, click on http://www.cdc.gov/flu/.
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