University hopes to distribute swine flu vaccine this fall

Pitt officials say they hope the University will become a center for swine flu vaccine… Pitt officials say they hope the University will become a center for swine flu vaccine distribution this fall.

Jay Frerotte, Pitt’s director of environmental health and safety, said the University registered with the state Department of Health, requesting permission to distribute the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available, probably in mid-October.

The University is “in a dialogue” with the Allegheny County Health Department to work out a plan for distributing the vaccines when it receives them, he added.

The shots will be distributed on a priority basis. Pregnant women, children younger than 5, emergency responders and medical professionals are high on the list. People with underlying medical conditions and college students are also on the list, Frerotte said.

Aside from that, the priority list for the vaccine will not be finalized until the vaccine is distributed, said Mary Fuqua, a representative for the county health department.

Shirley Flagy, who also works for the county health department, said vaccinations might be available for anyone who wants them by December. When people receive vaccines will depend on demand.

“If we get that first load of vaccines, and there’s no takers, they’ll open up to anyone who wants them,” she said.

Frerotte said the University hasn’t decided how much it will charge students for the vaccine, if it decides to charge them at all.

He would not say how many students on campus had reported flu-like symptoms or had been recommended to isolate themselves.

“We don’t want to get into the numbers game. There are active cases on campus, but there is no cause for panic,” Frerotte said.

But he did say that the Department of Environmental Health and Safety noticed a spike in the number of otherwise healthy students visiting the Student Health Center with flu-like symptoms, and Frerotte urged students not to do so.

Going to the health center with the flu increases the risk of spreading it to others, and students with the flu are encouraged to use the flu hotline (412-624-2222) the school has set up. Most of the flu cases do not require hospitalization or even a doctor visit, Frerotte said.

Most students on campus with H1N1 have gotten better after one to two days, and almost all after five days. The symptoms have been much more mild than the regular flu, Frerotte said.

He urged students with medical conditions that compromise their immune systems to be “extra diligent” now that the flu is on campus and to go to the Student Health Center if they experience symptoms. For people with conditions such as asthma, there is a risk of dangerous complications, Frerotte said.

Three quarters of all colleges and universities across the country have reported some level of H1N1, he said.

Anita Barkin, director of Student Health Services for Carnegie Mellon, said about 200 students on their campus had reported flu-like symptoms as of Wednesday. The school has between 5,000 and 6,000 students.

In its weekly update Tuesday, Penn State’s Health Services reported that 30 students on campus had reported flu-like symptoms.

Washington State University, in Pullman, Wash., had some 2,500 total students report flu-like symptoms as of Sunday, said James Tinney, one of the school’s spokesmen. Washington State University has roughly 20,000 undergraduates.

Frerotte was surprised at the number of cases reported at Washington State University, saying University officials “certainly hope that we won’t see that.”