Printer-friendly version Reader Comments

As vaccine deliveries lag behind schedule, the flu virus is now so widespread that the agency has stopped documenting cases.

By DAVID HENCH, Staff Writer October 30, 2009

The H1N1 flu virus is now so widespread in southern Maine that the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped documenting cases, the state's top medical official said Thursday.

At the same time, deliveries of H1N1 vaccine are lagging far behind schedule, limiting many people's access to it.

Dr. Dora Anne Mills said during a news conference Thursday that the state is distributing the vaccine as fast as it can to the areas and institutions that need it most.

She said she is encouraged that 12,000 schoolchildren were inoculated this week. Many more school vaccination clinics are scheduled for next week.

"This is a pediatric pandemic," said Mills, director of the Maine CDC. "That is why the most important strategy we can deliver right now is to get vaccine into our schools."

Mills said H1N1 has become so widespread that "we don't need to confirm every outbreak. A number of schools have absentee rates of 15 percent" because of flu-like symptoms.

"If people get the symptoms of H1N1 – fever plus sore throat and/or cough, then they should assume they most likely have H1N1," she said.

Mills said two people in Maine were hospitalized with the H1N1 flu this week but they have been discharged and are recuperating at home.

Mills and Education Commissioner Susan Gendron planned a conference call with superintendents across the state later Thursday to advise against closing schools unless so many students and staff members are out that education becomes impractical.

Schools were closed at the hint of an outbreak in the spring, before health officials determined that the illness was not as severe as initially feared. Most people recover within a few days without seeing a doctor, Mills said.

Closing schools is disruptive for communities and can reduce the number of available health care workers if they have to care for children who aren't in school, she said.

Health officials are pleased with vaccination rates of 50 to 60 percent, said Mills, who believes that interest in getting the vaccine is growing as the sickness spreads. The vaccine takes eight days to two weeks to take effect.

Mills praised the work of school nurses, other health professionals and volunteers who have made the widespread vaccination of schoolchildren possible.

"This has been an extraordinary effort," she said. "We have not seen vaccines given in schools in decades and we have not seen a mass vaccination effort in decades."

Vaccinating schoolchildren will make entire communities safer because schools are common places for the spread of infectious disease, Mills said. "Not only are we protecting the people disproportionately affected by this pandemic, but we're also providing protection for the rest of us," she said.

The state has provided several thousand doses to pediatricians and obstetricians, to make sure the vaccine gets to preschool-age children and pregnant women. The state hasn't received enough to meet the need, especially for infants and toddlers, and clinics have started waiting lists.

People older than 65 aren't considered at high risk of contracting the H1N1 flu because they are the only segment of the population that has some background immunity to it, Mills said.

However, they should contact health care professionals if they develop symptoms, so they can be treated with antiviral medication. The medicine is being provided free for people who don't have health insurance or whose policy won't cover it, she said.

The state says that, by today, it will have received 99,000 doses of vaccine – one for every seven people in the high-risk group, Mills said. The state hoped to have 260,000 doses at this point.

The state expected to receive its full supply of vaccine – 700,000 doses – by December. But Mills said each day's supply is uncertain so it is impossible to predict when the state will be...