• Home
• News
• Events
• Features
• Sports
• About
• Contact
• Advertise

Latest Headlines

• Molino Dollar General Assistant Manager And Her Boyfriend Charged With Theft
• Thursday CSX Crossing Closure Update, And Yes They Will Fix Old Chemstrand
• One Injured In Highway 29 Crash
• Escambia Commission Installs Four Commissioners, New Chair And Vice-Chair
• Rep. Michelle Salzman Says She’s Running For Congress After Gaetz Resignation
• Century Extends Town Management Services Contact With South Florida Company; One Council Member Objects
• New Long-Term Parking Opens At Pensacola Airport
• New Tax Collector Brentwood Office Opens, Replacing Marcus Pointe Location
• Northview Chiefs Boys, Girls Sweep Atmore Christian (With Gallery)
• Tate’s Jordan Smith Signs With New College Of Florida

Flu-Like Illnesses Widespread; Vaccine Soon

Almost 20 percent of all emergency room visits in Alabama are patients suffering from flu-like symptoms, and health officials are reporting a high number of cases in Florida. The Escambia County (Fla.) Health Departments says that most forms of influenza currently being diagnosed in the county are H1N1 — commonly known as swine flu. Santa Rosa County has not been spared from the swine flu, with the county’s health department reporting Tuesday that a 52-year old man died from H1N1 earlier this month.

About 18 percent of emergency room patients and 9 percent of patients presenting in doctors’ offices in Alabama reported having flu-like symptoms, according to reports from physicians and hospitals participating in Centers for Disease Control surveillance programs. Eight Alabama residents who were positive for H1N1 influenza have died this year, and other potential deaths are being investigated.

H1N1 vaccine should be available in early or mid-October, according to health officials. In Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, it will eventually be available at area colleges, hospitals, participating doctor’s offices, health department offices and in public schools. Public school students will not be vaccinated without written permission from a parent; permission forms will be sent home with each child from their school.

The vaccine currently offered at locations such as grocery stores and drugstores is for the seasonal flu, not H1N1 or swine flu.

The Center for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended that certain groups of the population receive the 2009 H1N1 vaccine when it first becomes available. These target groups include pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, health care and emergency medical services personnel, persons between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old, and people ages of 25 through 64 years of age who are at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.  Persons age 65 and older are believed to have a lower risk of getting the H1N1 virus, so vaccination for this age group is not recommended until more at-risk groups have been vaccinated.

For more information on the H1N1 flu, click here to visit the CDC web site.