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Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
Area clinics taking their shot at flu fight
By Travers La Ville
Correspondent Published October 30, 2009 Flu season still abounds, and the Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services(HCPHES) has been on the front lines since Monday.
H1N1 influenza, or Swine Flu, vaccinations arrived at the HCPHES clinic at 1000 Lee Drive on Monday. Vaccinations were previously restricted to a priority group designated by the Center for Disease and Control and Prevention this summer.
1,600 vaccinations had been administered at the Baytown HCPHES clinic as of Wednesday, according to Rita Obey, spokesperson for the HCPHES.
The vaccination is currently available in two forms, inactive shot form and a live nasal spray vaccine. The HCPHES Web site offers literature on both methods, and warns that the nasal vaccination is only licensed to be taken by healthy, non-pregnant individuals.
The live virus is attenuated or weakened, so it will not cause the illness according to the site.
Consumers should also beware of fake vaccines available online. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently purchased and analyzed several products represented online as Tamiflu (oseltamivir), which may pose health risks to patients.
“Products that are offered for sale online with claims to diagnose, prevent, mitigate, treat or cure the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus must be carefully evaluated,” Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. said. “Medicines purchased from Web sites operating outside the law put consumers at increased risk due to a higher potential that the products will be counterfeit, impure, contaminated, or have too little or too much of the active ingredient.”
For information, call 281-427-7656 or visit www.hcphes.org.
Correspondent Published October 30, 2009 Flu season still abounds, and the Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services(HCPHES) has been on the front lines since Monday.
H1N1 influenza, or Swine Flu, vaccinations arrived at the HCPHES clinic at 1000 Lee Drive on Monday. Vaccinations were previously restricted to a priority group designated by the Center for Disease and Control and Prevention this summer.
1,600 vaccinations had been administered at the Baytown HCPHES clinic as of Wednesday, according to Rita Obey, spokesperson for the HCPHES.
The vaccination is currently available in two forms, inactive shot form and a live nasal spray vaccine. The HCPHES Web site offers literature on both methods, and warns that the nasal vaccination is only licensed to be taken by healthy, non-pregnant individuals.
The live virus is attenuated or weakened, so it will not cause the illness according to the site.
Consumers should also beware of fake vaccines available online. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently purchased and analyzed several products represented online as Tamiflu (oseltamivir), which may pose health risks to patients.
“Products that are offered for sale online with claims to diagnose, prevent, mitigate, treat or cure the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus must be carefully evaluated,” Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. said. “Medicines purchased from Web sites operating outside the law put consumers at increased risk due to a higher potential that the products will be counterfeit, impure, contaminated, or have too little or too much of the active ingredient.”
For information, call 281-427-7656 or visit www.hcphes.org.