BETHESDA, MD. — The most likely scenario involving the influenza A(H1N1) virus this fall is that young people in schools will be disproportionately affected, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We might need to offer interventions to people who aren't used to getting even a seasonal influenza vaccine,” Dr. Schuchat said during a breakout session on vaccine preparation and distribution at an H1N1 Influenza Preparedness Summit sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
[Since the session, children were named one of the target groups for priority H1N1 vaccination by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (see page 1)].
The CDC's H1N1 Vaccine Task Force developed a guidance document with a best-case planning scenario, so clinicians have some idea what might unfold if the number of H1N1 viral infections surges in the fall.
The document describes likely target populations and presents ideas for where and how the H1N1 vaccines could be administered.
Students and staff associated with schools, children aged 6 months and older, child care center staff, and health care workers would be among those on the high-priority list in the likely event that the vaccine's availability is limited. In a best-case scenario, students would be vaccinated at schools and child care centers, and health care workers would be vaccinated in their work environments.
The goal in any emergency is to “keep our children safe and keep them learning,” Arne Duncan, secretary of the Department of Education, said at the summit's morning session. School closings are a last resort, and more guidance is needed at the local level to help schools make informed decisions about what level of illness merits a closing. However, “most school districts have developed good emergency plans,” he added.
Heath and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius encouraged everyone—clinicians and the public—to visit www.flu.gov
The presenters had no financial conflicts to disclose.
The guidance document is available at www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/statelocal/planning.htm