Even though this flu season has brought an increase in life-threatening cases to Alachua County, the health department provided vaccinations for a record number of the county’s children.
About 13,000 K-12 students in the county’s private and public schools have taken advantage of free flu vaccinations, “the most successful vaccination campaign in the history of the program,” said Paul Myers, administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County.
Although figures are still being gathered, Alachua County Public Schools spokeswoman Jackie Johnson said school board officials “have not seen any sort of a spike in flu or flu-like illnesses among our students,” a factor she credits to the vaccination program.
Myers said the overall number of reported infections is comparable to past years.
“But the severity of the cases is what has us concerned right now,” he added.
Since October, UF Health Shands Hospital has reported 12 flu-related deaths. Five of those patients were under 40 years old, a greater number than usual, Myers said.
Due to the increase in deadly flu cases shown in younger patients, Myers said, it is especially important for UF students to get vaccinated.
“Particularly when you’re talking about living in very close quarters, whether it’s in a dorm, apartments or fraternity or sorority houses, the flu has a great opportunity to be transmitted,” Myers said.
Lindsey Jones, a 19-year-old UF psychology sophomore, said she gets the flu vaccine regularly. She received her vaccine from a local Walgreens this month.
“I was really scared,” Jones said. “The news has been reporting a lot of deaths in this area.”
Briana Minich, a 19-year-old UF biology sophomore, said she was initially afraid she’d have a bad reaction to the vaccine.
But Minich said her close friend has had flu-like symptoms in the last week. After seeing her friend sick, Minich said she’s more inclined to get the shot.
A version of this story ran on page 5 on 1/14/2014 under the headline "Alachua County sets new flu shot record for K-12 students"
