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Schools to Get Free Flu Vaccine

Posted on: Monday, 10 October 2005, 03:01 CDT

By JANE DAUGHERTY Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

More than $2 million worth of free nasal mist flu vaccine will be offered to students and teachers in Palm Beach County's 104 public and charter elementary schools beginning Nov. 1.

Later this month, parents and guardians of elementary school children will receive consent forms and information packets about the unusual, new free immunization program.

"We're very excited about this because it should significantly reduce the number of school days lost this season to flu, whose symptoms can be very unpleasant for children, and because we're testing our emergency immunization capability," said Dr. Jean Malecki, director of the Palm Beach County Health Department, which is coordinating the FluMist program.

County emergency medical technicians, working with school nurses and health department doctors, will administer the anti-flu nasal spray to children 5 and older who have signed parental consent forms. Immunizations will begin Nov. 1, the traditional start of the flu season, and end Nov. 18. Teachers and other school employees also may elect to receive the free immunizations.

The vaccine, FluMist, is being donated by the manufacturer, MedImmune Vaccines Inc. of Gaithersburg, Md. The company has provided free nasal flu vaccine to the Knoxville, Tenn., school system, which last year closed for a week when so many of its teachers contracted the flu that there was insufficient staff to remain open.

MedImmune spokeswoman Clarencia Stephen said Friday that the company also has provided free nasal flu vaccine this year to schools in Calvert County, Md., and Montgomery County, Pa., as a public service and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the product.

FluMist, which is inhaled through the nose, differs in several important ways from traditional flu-shot immunizations, but in some clinical trials has been found to be even more effective than flu shots in preventing influenza in children.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in one large clinical trial, FluMist reduced the chance of contracting flu in children age 7 and younger by 92 percent compared with those who received a placebo.

Children between 5 and 14 were found to be four times more likely to come down with the flu in a typical year than adults, according to a 1993 study.

FluMist contains the same three flu viruses that are in this season's flu shots, but in FluMist the viruses are kept alive in a weakened state and administered at low temperature. That produces a reaction in the nose and throats of healthy children and adults that causes their bodies to produce antibodies to the viruses, the CDC says.

Malecki said any side effects from nasal flu vaccine are usually mild and can include runny nose, cough and low-grade fever for a day or two.

"There have never been any deaths or serious illnesses linked to this vaccine," she said.

Malecki said a related public health benefit is that reducing the number of children with the flu decreases the number of adults, especially the elderly, who will be exposed to the illness.

Influenza is a contagious illness caused by viruses that infect the respiratory tract. The most common flu viruses - designated A, B and C - change or mutate often, which is why flu vaccines are reformulated every year to provide protection from specific viral strains. Most people who get the flu recover completely in a week or two, but some develop serious and potentially life-threatening medical complications, the CDC reports.

Dr. Marsha Fishbane, county school health director, said children between the ages of 5 and 8 need two doses of FluMist vaccine to be protected if they have not received nasal flu vaccine before. Healthy people from 9 to 49 need only one dose of FluMist per season, she said.

"Obviously, most children prefer getting a nasal spray to getting a flu shot," Fishbane said.

Malecki said she expects 30 percent to 50 percent of eligible elementary students to take the vaccine.

"Part of the problem is that the permission slips will get lost on the way home," she said. "So we're trying to find funds to do a mailing to all parents to tell them about this."

She said giving vaccine to as many as 100,000 people also will be a useful test of the health department's ability to respond to a terrorist attack or other emergency.

"This is an excellent test of combining EMS, Health Care District, Health Department and school staffs to protect the public," she said.

Health departments in Martin and St. Lucie counties said this week that they have no plans to offer flu immunizations through their public schools.

For more information on nasal flu vaccine, see the CDC Web site at www.cdc.gov/flu/ about/qa/nasalspray. htm

Reporter Sandra Hong contributed to this report.

jane_daugherty@pbpost.com

FluMist nasal mist vaccine Q&A

Q: What is FluMist?

A: It is an influenza virus vaccine approved in 2003 by the Food and Drug Administration for people between the ages of 5 and 49 years.

FluMist is administered through a nasal spray, instead of an injection like a flu shot.

Q: Is it effective?

A: The Centers for Disease Control reports that FluMist reduced by 92 percent the chance of contracting influenza in a large study of children between the ages of 2 and 7 compared with those taking a placebo.

Q: Who should NOT take FluMist?

A: Children and adults who are:

* allergic to eggs

* regularly taking aspirin or are on aspirin therapy

* asthmatic or have reactive airways disease

* HIV-positive or have AIDS or any other known or suspected immune deficiency disease or cancer, including leukemia or lymphoma

* afflicted with Guillain-Barre syndrome

* pregnant

* suffering from chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, kidney ailments, liver disease and other chronic illnesses

* taking an influenza antiviral drug, including Symmetrel (amantadine) for Parkinson's disease

Q: How does FluMist work?

A: The nasal spray uses three live, weakened, cold-adapted viruses that prompt healthy individuals to develop antibodies that help protect against contracting the flu.

Q: Does FluMist cause side effects or complications?

A: No deaths have been attributed to FluMist, which has been administered to more than 2 million people in the U.S. since 2003. Runny nose is the most common side effect. Other common side effects are headache, cough, sore throat, low-grade fever (less than 100 degrees orally), muscle aches, chills and a feeling of fatigue or weakness.

SOURCES: National Centers for Disease Control, MedImmune Vaccines Inc., Palm Beach County Health Department

Source: Palm Beach Post

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