By PEGGY HARRIS
The Associated Press
Friday, October 5, 2007; 8:44 PM
LITTLE ROCK -- As cooler weather approaches, Arkansas health officials are stressing the importance of flu shots to two groups in particular _ young children and pregnant women.
The two groups are among those most threatened by the virus, as are the elderly and those with heart trouble, diabetes, weakened immune systems or other serious health problems.
But young children are the main "distributors" of influenza, said Dr. James Phillips, branch chief of infectious diseases for the state Health Department. They shed the highly contagious virus in greater amounts and for longer periods of time, so the agency is hoping to vaccinate more children this season, ages 6 months to 5.
In addition, the deaths of three pregnant women in Arkansas from the flu last season impressed upon officials the importance of getting the word out that flu shots can save lives.
The flu vaccine poses no danger to a woman's pregnancy or the baby, Phillips said. In the three cases last season, the babies survived while their mothers got fatally sick. "And that, of course, is a very sad and preventable situation," Phillips said.
Phillips said obstetricians this year have undertaken a deliberate campaign to try to get more pregnant women vaccinated for the flu.
A person can get the virus any time of the year, but the greatest number of cases occur from mid-December to early March. Phillips said the importance of the flu shot is reflected in the number of deaths each year, which varies greatly depending on the number of people vaccinated and the virulence of the organism.
"What kind of year we're going to have is impossible to predict," he said.
The department provided figures Friday by calendar year, instead of by flu season. The state recorded four deaths in 2001; nine in 2002; 33 in 2003; seven in 2004; 14 in 2005; nine in 2006, including one of the three pregnant women; and seven so far this year, including the two other pregnant women.
Unlike the 2004-05 flu season, when the country experienced a shortage of flu vaccines, Phillips said, there is plenty this year. Arkansas will receive about 220,000 doses; general distribution to the public health clinics begins in November. Around the second weekend of that month, the Health Department is planning a mass vaccination program in every county, Phillips said. Children who are not insured or who are underinsured receive the vaccine for free; otherwise, the charge is $20, up from $15 last season.
The agency recommends that healthy adults, ages 50 and older, get a flu shot each year. Those older than 65 fall in a high-risk group, with the risk increasing dramatically every year after that, Phillips said.
Friday, Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, 58, got his annual flu shot from a St. Vincent visiting nurse. The Visiting Nurses Association is offering to schedule flu clinics for businesses.
Phillips said a flu shot should provide protection for both influenza A and influenza B, a milder organism. The effectiveness will depend on how soon exposure to the virus occurs after a person gets a shot.
"It's a crap shoot because you don't know really when the season is going to start," Phillips said.
Besides a flu shot, avoiding people who have flu symptoms helps reduce the risk of getting the virus, although a person can be contagious a day before developing the symptoms. The symptoms include sore throat, stuffy nose, fever, and muscle aches.
A person with the flu should not visit the elderly or work in a nursing home, he said. Child-care and health-care workers should get flu shots.