By Misti Crane
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — As flu continues to sicken an unprecedented number of people for this time of year, Ohio leaders said they’re working to get antiviral drugs to health departments and hospitals.
Ohio Department of Health officials this week sent some of the state’s stockpile of Tamiflu and Relenza out to help ensure that there’s enough medication for those most at risk of serious complications from the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu.
Gov. Ted Strickland also signed an emergency proclamation yesterday that allows emergency medical workers to vaccinate people. EMTs don’t normally vaccinate, but special arrangements have been made this year to ensure there are enough people trained to administer H1N1 shots and nasal vaccine.
Of about 1.8 million doses in its antiviral stockpile, the Ohio Department of Health sent out 442,622 doses this week, said Steve Wagner, the state’s chief of health preparedness. The state has access to about 1.3 million additional doses that have not been shipped yet to Ohio, said Health Department spokesman Bret Atkins.
No major shortages have been reported, but the plan is to stay ahead of the outbreak so that the medicines will be available locally if and when they’re needed, Strickland said.
Federal health guidance calls for careful use of the medications to prevent a shortage. Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised doctors to prescribe the medicine to those most at risk of serious illness and not to write prescriptions for those who are worried about becoming ill but have not yet been sickened with the flu.
Most people recover from H1N1 without medication.
The first shipments of vaccine to protect against the new virus are expected to arrive in Ohio as soon as today, said State Health Director Dr. Alvin Jackson.
The state ordered 61,500 doses of FluMist, which can be used only in healthy people who are 2 to 49 years old. Aside from health-care workers, people in priority vaccination groups, including pregnant women, will have to wait for injectable vaccine.
“I encourage all Ohioans to be patient and diligent when seeking their vaccine,” Strickland said.
Vaccine will continue to come into the state weekly, Jackson said.
Federal health officials have said that they expect enough vaccine to protect those most at risk and eventually anyone who wants it, but the supply will come in waves, not all at once.
In the meantime, plenty of people are getting sick.
Flu activity in Ohio and many parts of the country is considered “widespread,” a level that usually isn’t seen until midwinter, when seasonal flu is at its peak. Most cases of flu now are presumed to be H1N1, even if no lab testing is done to confirm that.
Both Jackson and Strickland called for vigilance in personal hygiene, including coughing and sneezing into a tissue or into your elbow and frequent hand washing.
The state will operate a call center to handle flu-related questions from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on business days, Jackson said. The number is 1-866-800-1404.
For questions about flu vaccination in Columbus and Franklin County, call 211.
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