H1N1 vaccines expected in schools Oct. 30

OXFORD — A total of 1,800 doses of H1N1 flu vaccine in both nasal spray and injection forms are expected to arrive at the Oxford Hills School District on Oct. 30, special education director Marcye Gray said Wednesday.

Flu clinics will be set up for students during the first week of November, she said.

Gray and head nurse Ann Johnson told the school district's Board of Directors earlier this week that they hope to catch the outbreak early.

"We're hoping we can get that vaccine and get ahead of the curve," Johnson said.

Clinics have already been scheduled for both the public and for students across the state. According to Maine Department of Health and Human Services, several schools in Lewiston and Poland will be the first schools in the state to receive vaccines on Oct. 26.

The Oxford Hills School District has not been added to the state list of clinics as of Wednesday.

There will be no vaccines in the first shipment for nurses or teachers or other staff members who work with the students, Gray said. All children under the age of 10 must receive a second dose not less than 28 days later.

In September, 1,400 students or 30 percent of the study body districtwide received their seasonal flu vaccine. A total of 200 students had to receive as second dose of the seasonal flu because they were under the age of 9 and had not had the seasonal flu before, Gray said.

The vaccination procedure is not terribly time consuming, Gray said. A total of 500 shots were given to students at the high school in 90 minutes.

Johnson said that both mist and vaccines have been ordered, but parents will probably have no choice of which is administered because of the limited number of available vaccines. Healthy students will probably receive the mist spray and those students who have underlying medical conditions will get the vaccination, she said.

According to Johnson, about half a dozen cases of H1N1 have already been seen in a few of the district's schools.

Kate White, spokesperson at Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, said this week that the hospital's infection prevention nurse reported influenza-related cases have been seen in the emergency room, but there are no statistics available to show how many are H1N1 cases. Screening for that specific flu is not being done at the hospital at this time, she said.

According to Maine CDC/DHHS information, as of Oct. 16, Oxford County has a total of 18 lab-confirmed cases of H1N1, including eight out-of-state residents who became ill while in Oxford County.

ldixon@sunjournal.com