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The City of St. Joseph Health Department offers free H1N1 vaccinations on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 8-11am and 1-4pm at the Health Department, located at Patee Market Health Center, 904 S 10th St. The 2009 H1N1 vaccine is now available to everyone, regardless of age.
General information about H1N1 and seasonal flu can be found at www.stjoemo.info/flu or persons may call the local H1N1 information line at 816-271-5325, visit the state health department’s Web site at www.dhss.mo.gov, or call the H1N1 InfoLine at 1-877-FLU-4141 (1-877-358-4141).
For Immediate Release:
February 11, 2010
Flu season not over yet; H1N1 virus still causing illness, especially among children
Parents urged to make sure young children get second shot.
The H1N1 flu that sickened thousands of Missourians last fall still presents a potentially serious health threat, despite the public perception that the flu pandemic is over.
While hospital emergency rooms are no longer being overwhelmed with flu patients, people are still becoming ill with the flu. So far this flu season, 28,461 Missourians have had the flu, about 42 times as many as last year. Nearly 66 percent of this year’s flu patients were children younger than 14 years old.
Because young children are among those hardest hit by the H1N1 flu, state health officials are urging parents to make sure their young children have received the H1N1 vaccine. Children under 10 years old require two doses of the H1N1 vaccine given about 30 days apart.
Margaret Donnelly, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said the number of flu cases is still running above normal.
"Though people may have the impression that the H1N1 flu has run its course, it is just too early to say the threat has passed," said Margaret Donnelly said. "People are still getting sick with the flu and we certainly are still keeping watch on the H1N1 situation. We urge people to protect their families against the flu, especially children who need that second dose to be fully protected."
Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that as many as 80 million Americans have been infected with H1N1 flu and an estimated 11,000 people have died. More than 1,000 of those deaths involved children and the toll continues to rise, with nine more children succumbing to the H1N1 virus last week.
Children younger than five years old have higher rates of hospitalization caused by H1N1 than any other age group, and school-age children have the highest rates of infection, the CDC says.
The H1N1 vaccine is now widely available and free of charge if obtained from a local health agency. The vaccine is made the same way seasonal flu vaccines are produced every year and has been found equally safe and effective based on evidence from some 65 million Americans who have received it.
For more information, you should contact your local public health agency, visit the state health department’s Web site at www.dhss.mo.gov or call the H1N1 InfoLine at 877-358-4141.
H1N1 (swine) Flu Resources:
- Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services hotline number: 1-877-FLU-4141 (1-877-358-4141)
- Pandemic Influenza - One-stop access to U.S. Government swine, avian and pandemic flu information.
- CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - Swine Influenza Information
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- World Health Organization (WHO) H1N1 Information
- Fight The Flu
- Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Pandemic Influenza Information
