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.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
If you consider the facts from past flu shot studies you wouldn't do this. January 10, 2004: NY Times, Lawrence Altman, the dean of American medical writers, reported that 93 children have died from the flu this season in the US. Alltman states: “Thirty-three of the victims had not been vaccinated.” Sixty of the deaths were in vaccinated kids.
Lets even out the death toll to 100…according to the above statistics, 35 non vaccinated kids and 65 vaccinated kids died from the flu. Since there are 3 times more non-vaccinated kids, and yet more vaccinated kids died, the relative risk of death is 5 ½ times greater if you are vaccinated versus a non vaccinated kid.
The CDC states that 135 children died during the 2003-2004 flu season. 59 of these children had received their flu shots. 43% of the fatalities were in vaccinated kids, 57% in non vaccinated kids. So the actual statistics indicate that you have over double the risk of death if you are vaccinated as a kid (2.25 times more deaths per population in this group).
soldout I am in total agreement with you...but this is being offered for FREE...they will be lining up in the hundreds to get it..........
I don't know if I can handle this damemarystuart; someone agreeing with me is rare. May you be blessed in all things.
You should get a load of what Massachusetts is doing to make sure their population is protected. Everyone who knows how to give a shot is being pressed into service as soon as the vaccines become available. Perhaps all this concern will turn out to have been unnecessary, but if the worry is justified, God help us all, especially the young and pregnant, if our own state's public health officials don't get off their butts and put an effective plan into action. The death toll could be devastating.
The NAET folks already have a treatment available that will fix anyone getting it. Already been used locally with success. Nothing to be concerned about at all.
The last swine flu vaccination campaign that took place in 1976 led to thousands of lawsuits. Damage claims totaled $1.3 billion. The vaccine claimed 25 lives and hundreds of previously healthy young adults were crippled from Guillain-Barré Syndrome. The swine flu itself claimed ONE life.
Unfortunately, many people will not realize that when they line up for this vaccine, they are in fact accepting their role as TEST SUBJECTS. They are likely NOT receiving a drug that has any proof of being safe.
Please, if you care about the health and welfare of your friends and family, do not be shy about sharing information about this vaccine with them. It’s imperative that we quell this mounting drive to mass vaccinate, especially the mass vaccination of children.
Soldout, we'll miss you when you get the flu.
I wouldn't wish the flu on anyone but vaccines don't have a winning track record to this point.
The CDC states that 135 children died during the 2003-2004 flu season. 59 of these children had received their flu shots. 43% of the fatalities were in vaccinated kids, 57% in non vaccinated kids. So the actual statistics indicate that you have over double the risk of death if you are vaccinated as a kid (2.25 times more deaths per population in this group).