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Knox County Health Department

News Release

November 9, 2009                                       For more information contact:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                         Ranee Randby
                                                                  Knox County Health Department
                                                                  215-5534 or 388-6186

Knox County Health Department in-school H1N1 Intranasal Vaccination Clinics Continue This Week

School Schedule Included Below

As supplies of H1N1 intranasal vaccine arrive, Knox County Health Department (KCHD) will continue in-school vaccination clinics. This week, clinics will be held on Thursday, Nov. 12 and Friday, Nov. 13. The full schedule is below for your reference. It is essentially the same schedule used in October for FluMist. KCHD will have 3,000 doses, enough for 12 schools.

Parents who would like their child to receive the H1N1 intranasal vaccine at school can get a consent form at www.knoxcounty.org/flu or at their child’s school. KCHD also offers the following information for parents:

If your child is under 10 and has already received a H1N1 vaccine, he or she will need a second dose after waiting at least 21 days. If your child is age 10 or older, he or she only needs one dose.
Knox County Health Department recommends vaccinating your child even if you think he or she may have had H1N1 flu. Currently, only 25 percent of samples sent to the state lab are actually flu, so vaccination will ensure they are protected.
Flu antiviral drugs, such as Tamiflu or Relenza, should not be taken less than 48 hours prior to getting the intranasal vaccine. If your child has taken either of these medications within 48 hours of his or her school’s vaccination clinic, please send a note to the school office the day before the scheduled clinic so that Knox County Health Department can pull their consent form. Your child will not be vaccinated during the school clinic.
All intranasal flu vaccines need to be separated by at least 21 days.

H1N1 intranasal vaccine is manufactured and administered the same as FluMist, except with a different flu strain (FluMist is the registered name of the seasonal flu intranasal vaccine manufactured by MedImmune that has been administered in Knox County schools for the past five years to prevent seasonal flu. Knox County Schools have not closed due to seasonal flu during that time. Two Knox County schools were closed last spring following CDC guidelines for H1N1 flu. Those recommendations have since changed.)

H1N1 vaccinations in the schools will be more challenging than seasonal vaccination clinics for these reasons:

H1N1 intranasal vaccine delivery by the distributors has been in small amounts.
Clinics will be scheduled on a week-by-week basis, depending on vaccine availability.

Unlike seasonal FluMist school clinics, where KCHD staff plans clinics in four-week schedules, H1N1 in-school vaccinations will have to be scheduled week-to-week contingent on vaccine delivery. Vaccine delivery delays may mean some weeks have no clinics scheduled.

The H1N1 intranasal mist is a live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV), which is FDA approved for healthy, non-pregnant people between the ages of 2 and 49 years old. There is no risk of developing the flu from a live virus vaccine. NO cases of flu have been linked to receiving LAIV. According to Tennessee Department of Health, there have been no reports of adverse events in the state related to the H1N1 vaccine. The vaccine is safe and effective.

Knox County’s in-school flu vaccination program, which began in 2004, is a national model for community flu prevention campaigns. Evidence supports vaccinating children as a way to protect the entire community from influenza. Each fall, Knox County public health professionals vaccinate an average of more than 28,000 school children with FluMist during a four-week period. Last year, Head Start students and child care enrollees were added.

Friday November 13th	Clinic Start Time
St. John Newman School	8:30
Amherst Elementary	8:30
Christenberry Elementary	8:30
Grace Christian Academy	8:30
Concord Christian School	8:30
Adrian Burnett Elementary	8:30
Christian Academy of Knoxville	8:30
Morning Star Child Dev Daycare	10:30

Knox County Health Department’s flu information line will be open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. until further notice: 215-5555. Additional information also can be found at www.knoxcounty.org/flu and www.flu.gov or by calling 211 or the Tennessee Department of Health Flu Information Line at 1-877-252-3432.

KCHD In-School H1N1 Intranasal Vaccine Schedule Nov.12 & 13

Thursday November 12th	Clinic Start Time
Rocky Hill Elementary	8:30
Brickey-McCloud Elementary	8:30
Carter Elementary	8:30
South Knox Elementary	8:30
Apostolic Kiddie Academy Daycare	8:30
Dogwood Elementary	8:30