Concerned Parents Get H1N1 Answers from Health Experts

Oklahoma City Public Schools and the health department hosted the first of several town hall meetings Wednesday in hopes of clearing up any question about this year's flu season, including the H1N1 virus.

Wednesday, September 16th 2009, 10:54 pm

By: News 9


By Colleen Chen, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma City Public Schools and the health department hosted the first of several town hall meetings Wednesday in hopes of clearing up any question concerned parents may have about this year's flu season, including the H1N1 virus.

The first meeting at U.S. Grant High School may have had a low turnout, but school officials said they know there are a lot of questions out there.

Fatima Danna knows just how close the quarters children share at school can be and is very concerned about H1N1. Danna has reason to be more concerned than most. Her son Cornelius, like some other students, has Asthma.

"Asthma seems to be a common denominator in those people who become seriously ill. For some reason the virus, the lungs are made more vulnerable," said Dale Claflin, Oklahoma County Health Department.

The upcoming H1N1 vaccine is one method of protection. But one parent at Wednesday's town hall meeting said she was worried the H1N1 vaccine may have been manufactured too soon. Health officials said those concerns are not necessary, citing that the H1N1 vaccine and the common flu vaccine are virtually the same.

"If we'd had the virus earlier and trials earlier it would have been included in the regular seasonal flu vaccine," Claflin said.

Since there are two vaccines, it's recommended a person gets both, but that has raised another question.

"If you can't get the two vaccines together at the same time, what is the time between getting the seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 vaccine?" asked a concerned parent at Wednesday's town hall meeting.

Doctors said you can get them together or on different dates. Timing is irrelevant.

Meanwhile, hygiene is key and why hand sanitizer pumps have been installed throughout Oklahoma City Public Schools. The district has 40,000 students to worry about, and that's just part of the concern.

"We're taking this seriously. We know we have a large percentage of students that do not have health insurance," said Karl Springer, Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent.

So far, 267 students have reported flu-like symptoms since school started at Oklahoma City Public Schools.

The H1N1 vaccine is not expected to be available until sometime in October

The next scheduled town hall meeting is Tuesday, September 22 in the John Marshall High School auditorium at 6 p.m.

Read a complete list of the upcoming scheduled H1N1 town hall meetings.

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