Health center begins swine flu clinics

<p>As the number of H1N1 (swine flu) cases continue to mount, the Petaluma Health Center has begun vaccinating its patients on a weekly basis.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>The clinic vaccinated 370 of its patients at its first H1N1 clinic on Nov. 27, and additional patients on Tuesday.</p><p>“We were busy during the first clinic, and had to turn away some people who are not patients here. Our clinic is for PHC patients,” said Dr. Nurit Licht, the health center’s medical director, adding that the clinics will be held each Tuesday.</p><p>At this point, there are “easily” twice as many flu patients contacting the PHC as there usually are at this time of year.</p><p>“A lot of them are contacting us by phone, rather than coming in to see us,” Licht said. “Many people don’t need to come in, and we have a well-coordinated triage system for those kinds of situations.”</p><p>So far, pretty much all the flu cases at the health center involve H1N1, rather than the seasonal flu. </p><p>During a typical flu season, around 5 percent to 10 percent of local residents catch the flu.</p><p>“This year, we expect it to be 30 percent to 40 percent,” Licht said. “It will hit a peak, but will come and go in waves over a long period of time. Vaccinations will help to mitigate the situation.”</p><p>The PHC is not currently administering seasonal flu vaccinations.</p><p>“Because of the large volume of people coming through, we decided for the time being to administer only the H1N1 vaccine. We want to be careful, because there is room for error when offering injectable vaccines,” Licht said.</p><p>On Monday, the health center received a combined total of 700 doses of the injectable vaccine and the nasal vaccine, which is recommended only for people age 2 to 49 who don’t have an underlying health problem.</p><p>Petaluma Valley Hospital is vaccinating health-care workers, but is not vaccinating any patients.</p><p>“By the time patients come here, they’re already ill,” said Wendi Thomas, the hospital’s nurse manager of emergency services. “Internally, we’ve established three priority groups for staff vaccinations — the emergency room staff, respiratory therapists and the intensive-care staff.”</p><p>During the past few weeks, the number of flu patients coming to PVH has been increasing, and on Sunday and Monday accounted for 24, or 18 percent, of the 133 patients who came to PVH. The hospital has prepared for an unusually high number of flu patients this season.</p><p>“So far, so good,” Thomas said. “We’ve been able to handle the situation, although we’ve been running short of some supplies, such as masks.”</p><p>Following guidelines released by the Sonoma County Department of Health Services, PVH has revised its visitor policy.</p><p>“We’re asking that no visitors under 14 years old come to see people who have H1N1, and that only two visitors be allowed per patient. This isn’t an official policy, though,” Thomas said.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Department of Health Services already has begun its Petaluma clinics.</p><p>Delays in the production of the injectable form of the vaccine have affected Petaluma and other cities and towns throughout the country. But there was no shortage at the walk-in clinic at Casa Grande High School, offered by the Department of Health Services on Oct. 24.</p><p>“We vaccinated 1,880 people, and had more than enough for them,” said Dr. Mark Netherda, deputy health officer for Sonoma County. “We were worried that there would be long lines of people waiting, and there were in the morning, but they trickled down toward the end of the day.”</p><p>The clinic was intended to serve people who fall into one of five priority groups: pregnant women; people who live in a household with, or provide daily care to, an infant younger than 6 months old; people from age 6 months to 24 years old; adults 25 to 64 years old who have chronic conditions that put them at risk from flu complications; and health-care providers and emergency medical workers.</p><p>Netherda was struck by the understanding and patience displayed by the people in line.</p><p>“Despite the long lines, people who came to the clinic were incredibly polite and appreciative,” he said. “We didn’t get an angry comment from any of them — not even from the people who we asked to come back at a later date because they weren’t in one of the priority groups.” </p><p>Another clinic is scheduled for Casa Grande from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 21.</p><p>(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com)</p>