Strike teams ready to knock out flu

Douglas County is ready to dispatch "strike teams" to inoculate residents as soon as there is an adequate supply of swine flu vaccine.

"We'd be out there doing it right now if we had enough vaccine," said Steve Tognoli, East Fork Fire & Paramedic Districts deputy fire chief in charge of operations.

Tognoli made a presentation Thursday to Douglas County commissioners about the preparedness and planning for flu season which officially opens today.

Tognoli said Carson City's Health & Human Services Department is coordinating when the mass immunizations would take place at schools, daycare centers and other areas frequented by the target population including children and pregnant women.

He stressed that inoculations are voluntary.

"We are not panicked, we are concerned," Tognoli said Friday. "There is just a concern to make sure everyone is treated fairly and that they get the health care they need. The big thing is preparedness and prevention."

Tognoli told commissioners the school district had 14 cases of confirmed H1N1 virus, but most health professionals had stopped testing patients.

"Will we see a pandemic in Douglas County? I don't know, nobody can predict that," he said. "We do know H1N1 virus is present in Douglas County and hitting a younger population."

Carson City and Douglas County are testing emergency preparedness Oct. 17 at a mass immunization clinic at Douglas High School from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

Officials will have enough seasonal flu vaccine to administer 2,000 free shots at the "point of dispensing."

It's a practice run for an upcoming H1N1 free immunization clinic when the vaccine is available.

Officials are looking for 60 volunteers to assist with the clinic, from medical professionals to administer shots to people to help with paperwork and parking.

"If you can imagine us, in four hours, trying to put through 2,000 people. We're looking for anyone to help fill out paperwork, guide people to certain areas," Tognoli said.

Volunteers are asked to contact Carson City at 887-2190 or Douglas County at 782-9040 for an application.

Officials recommended both vaccinations even if residents have already had the flu or suspect they have.

"We're not testing everybody right now, and you don't know which one you had," Tognoli said. "We're recommending you get both just to be safe."

Tognoli said officials put together the county response after months of meetings with school, tribal, health and other officials.

"I've never seen a flu so easily transmitted as the H1N1," Tognoli said.

"The challenge is secondary infection that it can cause. Some people develop bronchitis or pneumonia later on from having had the flu."