The sporadic delivery of H1N1, or swine-flu, vaccine to the Triad is making it harder for children younger than 10 to get a recommended booster shot.
Although the booster shot should come within four weeks of the first dose, local and state health officials said there is no reason for parental concern if it is given several weeks later.
"There are no maximum interval and no reason to start over," said Thomas Skinner, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It has been five weeks since many children got their first dose, on Oct. 13, from the Forsyth County Health Department. The department was one of the first in the Triad to conduct a large-scale clinic of H1N1 vaccine, attracting parents and children from neighboring counties.
Dr. Tim Monroe, the county health director, said that the department dispensed about 1,600 doses on Oct. 13, 2,000, on Oct. 20 and another 2,400 doses on Nov. 10. Monroe said he doesn't expect another clinic until after Thanksgiving.
"Children already are substantially covered by their first dosage," Monroe said. He said that the booster is the same as the initial vaccine.
People eligible for the swine-flu vaccine remain: pregnant women, children and young adults from 6 months to 24; caregivers of children younger than 6 months; health-care workers; and people age 25 to 64 who have such chronic health conditions as asthma, diabetes, anemia, other blood disorders, heart, lung, kidney or liver disease.
The department recently received 900 doses, which Monroe said was not enough to justify the disruption to its normal operations by holding a clinic to offer booster shots. He said that those doses are being provided to private physicians who have not gotten the vaccine from the state or through a network associated with a health-care system.
"There are alternatives for getting the booster shot that will require going through alternative sources in the short term," Monroe said.
Private physicians can charge a fee for providing the shots.
Dr. Christopher Ohl, an associate professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said it is preferable that children take the booster dose in the same format as the first.
"But if they come for the booster and the vaccine they got initially is not available, but the other one is, they should be vaccinated with the other vaccine rather than waiting," Ohl said.
The vaccine will not provide protection against the seasonal flu, and health officials encourage people to get both kinds of vaccine.
Lynne Beck, a spokeswoman for the Guilford County Department of Public Health, said that its office in High Point has about 80 doses available on an appointment basis. Its office in Greensboro has no appointments through the end of the year. The department has dispensed about 4,200 doses. Clinics are planned for Greensboro and High Point on Dec. 5.
Though the clinics are to serve local residents, Beck and Monroe said, no one will be turned away.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that nearly 4,000 people have died nationwide related to the swine flu, including 540 children.
The agency said the sharp increase from previous estimates reflect a different method for measuring the spread of the flu.
rcraver@wsjournal.com
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