Though H1N1 pandemic is over, public still urged to be vigilant

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The H1N1 (swine) influenza pandemic wasn’t as deadly as feared due in significant degree to people’s getting the vaccine and following the prevention guidelines, public- health officials said.

“This could have been very bad, and it wasn’t,” said Dr. John Venglarcik, medical adviser for the Mahoning County District Board of Health.

It was a “bad bug” that nature and a massive public-health intervention kept in check, said Matthew Stefanak, commissioner of the county health district.

The World Health Organization recently declared the H1N1 pandemic over, and in June, the United States stopped classifying swine flu as a public-health emergency.

The virus now has entered the post-pandemic phase, meaning disease activity around the world has returned to levels usually seen for seasonal influenza, said WHO officials. At least 18,449 people died of the flu worldwide since the outbreak began in April 2009, the health organization said.

That being said, this is not the time to relax with the new school year starting and the new influenza season just a grade period away, say local health officials.

“I’d like to personally thank everybody who got immunized and got their friends and family members immunized. Everybody contributed to the pandemic being over,” Dr. Venglacik said.

They stayed home from work and school when they were sick, washed their hands often and learned to cough and sneeze and yawn into their elbows. They were part of the defense and the solution and should be proud of themselves, he said.

The fear is that people might relax too much. It is important to acknowledge a job well done, but people need to approach this flu season with as much enthusiasm as they did last year, Dr. Venglarcik said.

The fact is that the run-of-the-mill seasonal flu, which this year will contain a strain of the H1N1 virus, kills tens of thousands of people each year and should be reason enough for people to get vaccine for themselves and their kids, Stefanak said.

It will be easier this year because only one dose will be needed to immunize people, unlike 2009, when the regular flu and H1N1 required separate doses.

Typically, the flu season gets in full swing after Thanksgiving Day vacations when people return from traveling, officials said.

It’s important that baby boomers get the vaccine because that population was the second-hardest-hit group behind teens and young adults, Dr. Venglarcik said.

And it doesn’t hurt to get the vaccine early. Before it was believed that immunity lasted only six months. But new research shows it lasts at least a year, Dr. Venglarcik said.

This year’s flu vaccine, both injection and nasal, has the same ingredients: H1N1 and H3N2 Influenza A strains and influenza B strain.

What is new this year is a higher-dose vaccine for people over 65, which the Ohio Department of Health said will be more costly. The department does not plan to purchase any of the higher-strength vaccine, opting instead to spend the $40,000 allocated for adult vaccine on regular-dose vaccine, a spokeswoman said.

Though the H1N1 flu was not as deadly as feared, public-health officials say they gained important knowledge on how to combat the flu and other infectious diseases.

“We found school-based clinics a very effective way to reach young people, who not only benefit personally from the vaccine but are key to preventing the spread of any infectious disease to adults,” Stefanak said.

“I know for a fact that many children got the flu vaccine for the first time last year, and hopefully that will carry over to this flu season,” he said.

“We learned the value of community partnerships. We worked with just about every entity,” private and public, said Wes Vins, commissioner of the Columbiana County Board of Health.

Vins also credited the schools for doing a “fantastic job” working with the health department to very quickly develop a plan to get kids vaccinated.

Unfortunately, Stefanak said, the federal dollars available last year to mount a school-based campaign are not available this year, and a model to do it again and pay for it has not been found.

Instead, it is hoped parents will get their kids immunized by their family doctor or at board of health clinics or any of the other organizations providing vaccine. The more providers, the more children get protected, he said.