Bel Air, MD – January 8, 2009 – During the observance of National Influenza Vaccination Week, January 10th through January 16th, 2010, the Harford County Health Department will hold two more H1N1 influenza injectable vaccine clinics for the general population on Wednesday, January 13th at their Woodbridge Station operations center located at 1321 Woodbridge Station Way in Edgewood, Maryland and on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at the Bel Air Armory, located at 37 North Main Street in downtown Bel Air. Both vaccination clinics will be available at no cost to the public.
The Wednesday, January 13th vaccination clinic at Woodbridge in Edgewood will be held between the hours of 1:30pm and 4:30pm. Appointment times are available but not required by calling the appointment Call-Center at 410-877-1050. Walk-ins are welcomed, as well. Persons with appointments are reminded not to arrive more ...Continue Reading
On Tuesday evening, December 22, 2009, MedImmune, the manufacturer of H1N1 FluMist vaccine, announced a non-safety related recall of 13 batches (referred to as “lots”) of live attenuated (LAIV) “nasal mist” influenza vaccine.
The Harford County Health Department received several shipments containing portions of these FluMist lots during October. However, the Department administered them shortly after receiving it, when manufacturer testing determined that the supply had an acceptable level of potency.
This recall never was associated with any safety risk and revaccination is not recommended for persons who received one from any of the implicated LAIV lots.
As part of its quality assurance program, the manufacturer of the nasal spray monovalent 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine, MedImmune, performs routine, ongoing stability testing of the vaccine. Stability testing means measuring the strength (also called potency) of the vaccine over time to make sure it does not ...Continue Reading
The Harford County Health Department will offer the injectable H1N1 vaccine to pregnant women and children aged 6 months to 18 years, on Friday, November 6th at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., rain or shine.
Health Department spokesman Bill Wiseman said the clinic is restricted to pregnant women and children, who are among the prioritized groups recommended to receive the vaccine by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wiseman said sufficient supply of the H1N1 vaccine was on hand locally to conduct a “sizeable clinic” on Friday.
The preservative-free H1N1 vaccine will also be available in limited quantities for pregnant women who prefer that form of the vaccine.
An outbreak of the suspected H1N1 virus hit four more Harford County public schools late last week.
North Bend ES, Aberdeen High, Forest Lakes ES and Youth’s Benefit ES brought the total number of schools with identified outbreaks of “influenza-like illness” to twelve out of 53 public schools countywide.
At the remaining schools with identified outbreaks, absence rates were down from their peaks as of October 20, 2009.
Teri Kranefeld, Manager of Communications for HCPS said health officials may soon remove several schools, including Aberdeen MS, Halls Cross Roads ES, and Fallston HS from the list of schools with outbreaks, although absence rates are not the only factor considered.
Here’s the latest information on the affected schools provided by HCPS. The “Date of Letter” is the date parents were notified of an outbreak.
Supplies of the H1N1 FluMist vaccine are “dribbling in”, according the Harford County Health Department spokesman Bill Wiseman. Wiseman told The Dagger that students whose parents had granted permission would be offered the vaccine by the end of the day today (Tuesday) at Aberdeen Middle School, Halls Crossroads Elementary and Roye Williams Elementary.
Students at The John Archer School received the injectable version of the vaccine last week. The schools where the H1N1 vaccine has been administered so far were among the first to show an outbreak in Harford County Public Schools. Wiseman said future administration of the vaccine would depend on supply.
Bel Air Elementary School was the eighth Harford County public school affected by an outbreak of what health officials suspect is the H1N1 flu virus. Both Harford County Public Schools and the Harford County Health Department are monitoring the absence rates and the number of visits to health suites ...Continue Reading
The intranasal mist form of the H1N1 vaccine will begin to become available in mid to late October in sufficient quantities to support statewide school-based vaccination programs, according to John M. Colmers, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Secretary Colmers wrote in a September 29th memo to local health officers that the 2009 H1N1 influenza disease has re-emerged as anticipated and “is now widespread across the State.” The memo continues:
Children are disproportionately impacted by this influenza strain, and reports of H1N1 outbreaks in school settings continue to increase. This strain is now by far the predominant circulating influenza strain and is very likely to remain so for some time to come.
Given the prevalence of the H1N1 disease, it is important to vaccinate as many children as possible, along with those in other priority populations, using early shipments of H1N1 vaccine.
Acting on the advice of the health officials, Harford County Public Schools have postponed plans to dispense the Seasonal FluMist to elementary and middle school children to focus instead on administering the H1N1 vaccine as soon as it becomes available.
According to a September 29th letter informing parents of the decision, the seasonal flu peaks in February whereas “the majority of flu virus currently circulating in Maryland is the 2009 H1N1 type.” The H1N1 vaccine is not yet available, but the letter goes on to say that it is expected to come in intranasal (mist) form and sooner than originally anticipated, all of which prompted the change in plans.
Here is the text of the letter to parents, sent jointly from Harford County Health Officer Susan Kelly and Dr. Robert Tomback, Superintendent of HCPS:
September 29, 2009
Dear Parents:
As you may have heard, the 2009 H1N1 (novel, “Swine”) influenza ...Continue Reading
Even as they prepare to send out telephone messages to tens of thousands of residents informing them of a probable case of Swine Flu in Harford County, local emergency operations and health officials maintain they know of no link between the potentially-infected individual and the local school system.
Without stating a location or circumstance, health officials have confirmed “an adult county resident” is among four additional probable cases of Swine Flu (now known as H1N1 virus) reported by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH).
Local and state health officials have added an adult from Harford County to the growing list of “probable cases” of Swine Flu (now known as H1N1 virus) in Maryland.
Harford County Emergency Operations Center officials have briefed County Executive David Craig and an emergency protocol is said to be in place if the suspected case of Swine Flu begins spreading locally.
