Morris News Service
COLUMBIA --- South Carolina parents might have the option of having children vaccinated against swine flu in October when school nurses administer free shots at school.
"That's something that is being discussed statewide," said Dr. Cecelia Davidson, the associate superintendent for administration for the Aiken County Public School District.
She said the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control will have the final say on whether the district will offer it.
"Because of this being a pandemic situation, it gives school districts extra coverage in terms of liability, in terms of administering vaccines on site," said Dr. Davidson. "They're the ones discussing with superintendents in terms of, 'Is that something (to do), and how do we feel about it?' "
Public school children start school Monday, and Dr. Davidson said the district will be reinforcing common practices, such as hand-washing, for avoiding seasonal flu.
Aiken County has had 18 confirmed cases of swine flu, also known as H1N1 novel influenza. There have been 491 confirmed cases statewide.
Repeated phone messages left Wednesday with the Aiken County Health Department, which is contained in the DHEC Public Health Region 5, were not returned.
But Nick Davidson, DHEC spokesman for the Lowcountry region, said meetings with area superintendents indicated school officials were eager to cooperate.
"They've been very receptive and very supportive," he said.
"They want to protect their kids, too, and we all know whenever you put a bunch of kids in a closed setting, a school, it's easier to spread any illness," said Mr. Davidson. "Since we don't know exactly what H1N1 is going to look like, how severe it's going to be, they, like us, want to make sure they're doing everything to protect those kids."
The H1N1 virus first showed up in the state in late April. Mr. Davidson, the DHEC spokesman, said there are probably many more actual cases of the virus than the 491 confirmed cases.
The vaccinations, expected to be delivered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between October and November, would be free to children whose parents sign a permission slip.
Some school districts are already getting ready.
On Friday, state health officials will meet with school nurses at Beaufort County School District to discuss procedures on administering the swine flu immunization, according to district spokeswoman Carol Bruno.
Sarita Chourey can be reached at (803) 727-4257 or sarita.chourey@morris.com.
