by Andrew Henderson

The Fulton City School District will be holding H1N1 vaccination clinics for students beginning next week, according to a letter sent to district parents.

The clinics—set for Dec. 2 and 3 for elementary students and Dec. 9 for all other students—will be coordinated by the Oswego County Health Department. The vaccination will be given only to students who have permission from their parents.

“The Fulton City School District has been working closely with the Oswego County Health Department since last spring on the impact of the H1N1 flu virus on our students, staff, our schools, and the community in general,” said Superintendent of Schools Bill Lynch.

“Through this cooperative effort, the Oswego County Health Department will begin conducting school-based vaccination clinics during the school day for those students whose parents provide permission for the vaccination,” the superintendent added.

The clinics will dispense the vaccine in shot form; however, the nasal mist vaccination may be available by the time of the clinics. Only the children attending the schools will be vaccinated.

“Medical experts have advised that it is prudent for children and adults to receive the vaccine, even if they have experienced an illness with flu-like symptoms this fall,” said Superintendent Lynch.

According to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the H1N1 is a influenza virus that was first detected in people in the United States in April 2009. This contagious virus is spreading from person-to-person worldwide, probably in much the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread.

Earlier this summer, the World Health Organization signaled that a pandemic of 2009 H1N1 flu was underway.

This virus was originally referred to as “swine flu” because laboratory testing showed that many of the genes in this new virus were similar to influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs in North America.

Further study has shown, however, that this new virus is very different from what normally circulates in North American pigs. It has two genes from flu viruses that normally circulate in pigs in Europe and Asia and bird (avian) genes and human genes, according to the CDC.

Symptoms of the H1N1 flu include a fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headaches, chills, fatigue, and sometimes diarrhea and vomiting. The CDC, however, has reported that most individuals who have become ill with the H1N1 flu have had mild symptoms that were treatable without professional medical intervention.

If an substantial outbreak occurs, the Fulton school district would implement its infectious-disease plan, which was adopted in 2006 after an outbreak of the avian flu and has since been revised several times.

If the flu becomes more severe, the district may take the additional steps to prevent further spreading, such as conducting active fever and flu symptom screenings of students and staff as they arrive at school, making changes to increase the space between people such as moving desks farther apart and postponing class trips, and dismissing students from school for at least seven days if they become sick.

Permission forms for the vaccination may be found at the district’s web site at www.fulton.cnyric.org.