Tennessee is Already Gearing up for Flu Season

Tennessee Department of Health is already gearing up for the coming flu season, now complicated by H1N1, or the “swine flu” virus. The new virus will require a separate vaccine from the annual flu shot. Manufacturers are saying that there should be an ample supply of both vaccines, perhaps as early as October.

Dr. Bill Shaffner is chairman of Vanderbilt’s Department of Preventative Medicine. He says availability is not the only issue.

“The next challenge will, of course, be to educate everyone, first of all, not to forget to get vaccinated with the regular influenza vaccine, and then where and how they should get the new vaccine, which may, in all likelihood, require – get this – two doses.”

Two doses of vaccine for a new virus is standard procedure. State epidemiologist, Tim Jones, says the annual vaccine and the first dose of the new H1N1 vaccine can be given in one Doctor’s visit. The second dose of the H1N1 vaccine must be given a month later.

Jones says that the H1N1 virus is not expected to increase in severity, only in numbers, this season. He suspects there will be a peak in cases as school starts back in the fall because so many students will be congregating in closed spaces. For similar reasons, some states are seeing swine flu outbreaks in summer camps.