Demand for shots hits area

Some people in the long line were getting flu shots for the first time.
By JoANNE VIVIANOand WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
As temperatures dipped below 30 degrees this morning, people seeking protection from the flu stood in a line that snaked around the Mahoning County District Board of Health building in Austintown and extended along the parking lot to the street and into a neighboring lot.
The department started giving flu shots at 8 a.m. today. Diana M. Colaianni, director of the board's nursing division, said she had expected the turnout after recent press reports showed that the flu was especially dangerous this year.
By 9 a.m., people were spending from 40 minutes to an hour in line.
"I wish we had unlimited coffee pots and heaters," she said as she looked at those standing in line.
Holding a blanket around herself and her 4-year old daughter, Bonnie Bachman said she drove about a half hour from Hermitage, Pa., to get a shot for herself and the child.
"Her pediatrician in October did not recommend it because she's not in day care," Bachman said. "Now this is turning worse. I decided I'd better protect myself and her."
Colaianni said she hoped the shots would last the day. The department had about 1,500. In past years, when there has been a similar crisis, nurses have gone through 500 shots in a couple of hours, she said.
Her advice to those who don't get the vaccine is to go to the doctor quickly if flu symptoms appear.
Children
Some parents sent their children to school tardy after having them vaccinated.
Many people in line were getting a shot for the first time. Carol Zeock of Canfield promised her children, ages 7 and 9, that they could open a Christmas gift early if they got the shot. She waited in line as they sat in the car.
David Thoresen Sr., 49, of Austintown already got his shot but waited in line with his son, David Jr., 25.
"He didn't want to stand in line. I came down to stand with him in the cold," he said. "If they're making a big deal out of it, you'd be a fool not to get the flu shot."
Ron Taylor, 56, of Austintown and John Gozur, 64, of New Middletown decided to get their shots because they go to a lot of basketball games. The Springfield Local fans decided not to take a chance and were getting the shot for the first time this year.
Colaianni said flu shots also would be available next week.
Forum Health will be giving shots at Austintown Immediate Care starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
The city health department will administer some on Monday at the Renaissance Complex in Youngstown from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Cases in Valley
Despite the concerns, Mahoning Valley residents have not yet been hit in large numbers by the flu, according to public health officials.
But it may be starting.
Southington schools in Trumbull County were closed Thursday and today because a large number of pupils and teachers were ill with flulike symptoms.
There may be a question as to whether people are overreacting to reports of deaths in other areas, and the shortage of vaccine, but there is no doubt the flu is a serious illness in any year, according to Ohio Department of Health statistics.
There are 10,000 to 14,000 flu or flulike illnesses reported annually to ODH, and about 3,000 die each year from the upper respiratory illness.
That puts the flu in the top 10 causes of death in the state, said Christopher Weiss, ODH spokesman.
As of last Friday, Ohio had 22 lab-confirmed cases of flu, and 1,038 flu or flulike cases reported, Weiss said.
Also, Ohio's first death related to flu this season occurred in Pickaway County last week when a 1-year-old girl died.
There have been other flu-related deaths elsewhere, including in Colorado, which reported the deaths of several children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is trying to determine whether A-Fujian virus, which is dominant this year, is hitting children more often than other flu viruses in other years.
"The flu is serious, you bet," said Dr. Larry Frisch, medical director for the Mahoning County Health District and the John S. and Doris M. Andrews professor of community health sciences at Northeast Ohio Universities College of Medicine.
He noted that the flu season has started earlier than usual, but said he's not wise enough to determine yet if it will be more severe in terms of numbers of people ill and the severity of the illnesses.
The CDC has backed off an earlier recommendation that the entire population get immunized, he said, and has returned to the standard of recommending it for high-risk groups -- the elderly over 65, those with chronic illnesses, pregnant women and children from 6 to 23 months. The very young and the very old are most at risk for serious complications, he said.
Causes for concern
Two things are worrisome beyond the flu coming earlier than usual, Dr. Frisch said:
UThis year's strain seems to be killing people who ordinarily would not die from the flu. The question, which is too early to answer, is whether that's a tragic coincidence or a trend.
UThe virus that has come to the United States, A-Fujian, is slightly different from the A-Panama virus that the 2004 vaccine was designed to protect against. The question here, Dr. Frisch said, is if the CDC is correct when it says the vaccine will cross-protect against the mutated A-Fujian virus.