LOWELL — Health officials said the state is headed into a busy flu season as Arkansans battle the seasonal flu as well as the new, rapidly spreading swine-flu virus.
That means more people will be sick, and more people will miss school or work.
"Most people have not been exposed," said Dr. Gary Wheeler, physician consultant with the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care. "What that means is the number of people susceptible is much, much larger than in a regular year when you have just the seasonal flu. So there are going to be more cases of the flu in our community than we'reused to be seeing."
The Arkansas Department of Health is stepping up prevention in response, with mass flu-vaccination clinics at 92 sites statewide starting late next month, as well as clinics in each of the state's 244 school districts. This is the first year the clinics are being offered in the public schools.
"This is easily the largest campaign to fight influenza in the state's history," said Ed Barham, Health Department spokesman. "We will have at least twice as many mass fluvaccine distribution clinics this year as we did last year."
The strongest advice from doctors to stem spread of the flu: Get vaccinated against both seasonal flu and swine flu, also known as H1N1.
"Never before has flu vaccination been so important," Wheeler said. "Plan to get all your flu shots now."
The Health Department last week released a schedule for its mass-vaccination clinics, which will run from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2. There will be at least two mass-vaccination clinics in each county this year, Barham said.
Health officials hope to offer vaccinations at the clinics for both seasonal and swine flu, but that will depend on when shipments of the swine-flu vaccine arrive.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the new swine-flu vaccine Tuesday, and officials with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they expect to begin distributing about 45 million doses nationwide by mid-October.
The state Health Department expects to get about 400,000 to 450,000 doses to start.
CDC official Dr. Jay Butler said Friday that the first trickle of doses available in early October will likely all be a nasal spray vaccine called FluMist that's approved only for healthy people ages 2 to 49, The Associated Press reported.
It's not recommended for some people most in danger of swine-flu complications such as pregnant women, children younger than 2, and people with asthma or other chronic respiratory diseases.
However, it's possible that some shots will become available by the first week of October as well, Butler said, according to The Associated Press.
If the swine-flu vaccine arrives in time, the Health Department will offer up to two doses at the mass-vaccination clinics. The first dose will be at the first clinic in each county, and a second dose will be offered for children age 9 and under at another clinic up to six weeks later, either at the samesite or another site in the same county, Barham said.
For the seasonal flu, the Health Department ordered 720,000 doses of vaccine this year - up from about 280,000 doses last year. The flu season typically runs from mid-December to early March but is considered already under way this year.
Paula Smith, Arkansas Department of Education school nurse consultant, said the first schools will begin offering vaccinations Oct. 19. Parents who want their children vaccinated are being asked to sign consent forms.
In the meantime, school officials are taking steps to prevent spread of germs, such as encouraging students to routinely wash their hands and getting workers to clean commonly touched surfaces such as doorknobs and handles throughout the day, she said.
Seasonal-flu vaccines are already available in many pharmacies, clinics and doctors' offices, but won't be available from the Health Department or its health units statewide until next month, Phillips said.
The schedule of mass-vaccination clinics is available online at healthyarkansas.com.
The Health Department has confirmed five Arkansas deaths from complications related to swine flu and are investigating a sixth suspected swine-flu death, said Dr. James Phillips, the Health Department's branch chief for infectious disease.
Nationwide, the most-severe cases - including at least four of Arkansas' five deaths - have occurred in people who had underlying health conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive lung disease, he said.
Doctors recommend frequent hand-washing and avoiding direct contact such as handshakes.
People with a fever of 101 or above should stay home and away from work, school or public places until their fever is gone for at least 24 hours without the aid of fever-reducing medicines, Phillips said.
Phillips said he recommends people call their primary-care doctor if they have flulike symptoms and let the doctor decide if they should go in for an appointment.
Dr. Jose Romero, chief of infectious diseases at Arkansas Children's Hospital, said danger signs to look for in children are fast, labored breathing; turning blue; trouble drinking fluids; and behavioral changes such as more sleeping than usual.
Children with flulike symptoms shouldn't be given aspirin products or Pepto-Bismol. Both contain salicylates, which have been associated with Reye syndrome, a rare liver and central nervous system complication seen after viral infections.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 19, 20 on 09/20/2009