Students targeted for flu shots

Back in the days of the polio epidemic, health officials decided to immunize children against the deadly disease by administering shots at school. Baby Boomers will recall lining up with schoolmates in the mid-1950s for a quick stick in the arm, and perhaps getting rewarded for the courage with a lollipop or an extra recess.
Discuss
COMMENTS (6)

Health officials may return to that method of mass inoculation, in an effort to contain the spread of the H1N1 flu virus this fall among school-age children. The 5-to-24-year-old age group was the hardest struck by the virus last spring, when it first arrived in the United States. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the median age of those infected by the virus was 14.

About a dozen or so school districts in Southeastern Massachusetts have discussed the feasibility of inoculating children at school with state health officials, with Braintree perhaps being the furthest along. The town plans to administer seasonal flu shots to middle and high school students most likely this month and H1N1 inoculations in November, both during school hours.

Nearby Randolph is formalizing plans for seasonal flu shots to be given on a Saturday later this month, and H1N1 vaccinations most likely during school time in November. In Quincy, health officials say discussion is still “fluid,’’ but it appears students will be given shots at school. Plymouth, too, is looking at how to implement an immunization program for its middle- and upper-grade students during the school day, at least for the seasonal flu.

Other districts that have been in discussion with state health officials regarding inoculation of students include Dedham, Easton, Foxborough, Hull, Mansfield, Mattapoisett-Marion, and Weymouth, according to state records. Some of those may also consider inoculations through the schools, either during the school day or through clinics at other times.

A report issued in mid-August by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology estimates the H1N1 virus could cause 90,000 deaths in the United States this flu season. And according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most effective way to contain the spread of the virus will be “vaccinating as many as possible as quickly as possible.’’

Braintree’s School Committee recently voted to begin with seasonal flu shots for middle and high schoolers during school time in the next few weeks. Information and permission slips for the shots are expected to be forwarded to parents in the next several days.

Vaccine for the H1N1 virus will be shipped to each state in October, so Braintree officials believe a dose can be administered to students by early November.

“It will be free and voluntary,’’ said Marybeth McGrath, Braintree’s director of municipal licenses and inspection, who expects the program to be well-received. “We haven’t had any calls of concern about the vaccine, but we have had some calls in favor.’’Continued...