Conductor Boulevard – Amador County Public Health hosted its first of 3 public seasonal flu shot clinics Tuesday at the health office on Conductor Boulevard. The clinic featured flu vaccinations by mist and by injection. Angel LeSage, RN, Public Health Director said the clinic gave 240 seasonal flu shots, to mostly adults. LeSage said Public Health has “been doing school seasonal flu vaccinations,” but “they don’t give injections at the school sites to children,” so the children must get them from doctors or the clinics. The clinic gave a lot of mist vaccinations, which people can get if they are older than 2 or under age 50. Besides the 240 seasonal flu vaccinations, the clinic gave tetanus shots and boosters, and the new combination vaccine that includes, diphtheria and whooping cough prevention treatments. LeSage said Public Health was “finding that people are passing (whooping cough) to their small children,” whose illnesses can be severe. Adults pass it through the community because they are not vaccinated for it. The one-time whooping cough vaccination was licensed in 2005, after a national outbreak in 2004, affecting more than 8,000 adolescents and 7,000 adults. 5 volunteers helped at the clinic. School clinics have been volunteer-staffed as well, undertaken by retired nurse, Barbara Barenfeld, “who is a very experienced vaccinator.” Public Health plans a lot more seasonal flu clinics. LeSage said: “We’re also doing some clinics for Amador County employees only,” paid for by county administration. They will also go to 4 long-term care facilities in Amador County, and hold night clinics for emergency responders, including police and fire fighters, in Sutter Creek, Plymouth, Ione and Lockwood FPD. Public Health also provided ambulance services with vaccines, “and they are vaccinating their own folks.” 2 more seasonal flu shot clinics include one in partnership with Sutter Amador Hospital, at its Health Festival, 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. October 16th. Another public clinic is 4 to 5:30 p.m. October 7th at the Health Department. LeSage said vaccination for this year’s other flu, the special strain H1N1 virus, is not yet available. She said officials are “anticipating maybe by the end of October” to release H1N1 vaccines. LeSage is in weekly conference calls for updates on both disease activity and vaccines. She said the H1N1 flu “is here in our county.” But she said “guidelines for testing aren’t as rigorous as they were last spring.” Now they are testing for H1N1 only in very ill or hospitalized patients. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.