Health officials: 1 vaccine needed this flu season

All for one and one for all - that's the Carson City Health Department's call to action as it gears up for the coming flu season this week.

The department wants people to know that with just one flu shot, they can protect themselves and others. The 2010 vaccine protects not only from the H1N1 strain from last year, but from two other types of flu that may circulate this fall and winter.

Even though the World Health Organization has declared last year's flu pandemic behind us, County Health Officer Dr. Susan Pintar said Tuesday during a press conference that the worry then becomes that people will let their guards down and decide against the vaccine this year, which could send the country into another pandemic.

The current recommendation from the CDC is that everyone 6 months and older should receive the flu vaccination. It is administered in one of two ways:

• An inactivated vaccine containing killed virus is given with a needle, usually in the arm. TIV is approved for use in people older than 6 months including healthy people and people with chronic medical conditions.

• A mist nasal spray vaccine is made with live, weakened viruses that do not cause the flu. LAIV is approved for use in healthy people 2-49 years of age who are not pregnant.

This year, manufacturers project that they will supply about 170 million doses, and a substantial amount of that will be available by the end of September.

CCHHS and the Carson City School District are collaborating once again this year to offer flu vaccines at no cost to all students in all schools.

School District Superintendent Richard Stokes said there is very little resistance from parents who might be vaccination-phobic, and in fact, due to last year's health campaign, school attendance improved.

"We didn't see a real spikey move in regard to sickness," he said.

Pintar added that the results were so remarkable that other area schools are looking into offering vaccinations in schools.

Carson City parents will receive permission slips and vaccination information from the schools in about two weeks.