With the summer lull in H1N1 cases fading and influenza season approaching, vaccinations for the swine flu could arrive in Evanston within weeks.
The city’s Department of Health and Human Services is expecting a shipment of H1N1 vaccines in mid-October, said Director Evonda Thomas. The department will focus on vaccinating high-risk populations, including health care workers, pregnant women, students and parents of young children. Thomas said she expects there to be enough vaccinations to cover the target population.
“Mass vaccination clinics” are planned at Evanston’s public schools, and plans are evolving to vaccinate the Northwestern community, Thomas said.
“We’re working with Northwestern staff to get the dates and the staff and make sure we have enough vaccines for that population,” she said.
In the meantime, Evanston businesses, including Walgreens, CVS, Jewel-Osco and Dominick’s are already offering the seasonal flu vaccine. While those shots are highly effective at preventing the seasonal flu, they offer no protection against H1N1, said Marc-Oliver Wright, director of infection control for NorthShore University HealthSystem. Those within the high-risk population – primarily young people – should get the H1N1 vaccine as well when it becomes available, Wright said.
Like the seasonal influenza, the highly contagious H1N1 virus thrives in cooler weather. The NorthShore network of greater North Shore hospitals and doctor’s offices, which includes Evanston Hospital, saw two or three H1N1 cases each week over the summer. Since early September, the weekly average is approximately 12 cases, Wright said.
In the southern hemisphere, where winter is over and the flu season is ending, early indications about H1N1 offer some relief, Wright said. A high number of Australians contracted the virus, but the vast majority of H1N1 patients in that country experienced a quick and full recovery.
That’s a comforting sign for Americans, Wright said.
“I’m not overly concerned,” he said. “I’m concerned about the number of cases that we’re going to see but not in terms of how sick people are going to get.”
The numbers from Australia suggest this flu season will be similar to what Chicago experienced this spring. After H1N1 flu, commonly called “swine flu,” arrived in the United States at the end of April, NorthShore confirmed roughly 1,600 cases in the North Shore area, Wright said. The “vast majority” were seen in doctor’s offices, and only one in every 400 patients had to be hospitalized, he said.
Still, after seeing how quickly the disease spread in the spring, consumers seem eager to protect themselves from both H1N1 and the seasonal flu this fall.
Walgreens, which typically starts offering seasonal flu shots in late September or early October, started providing the shots this year in early September. Already, the company is close to doubling the 1.2 million flu shots it provided nationally all of last year, Company Spokesman Robert Elsinger said.
“People are more aware of the flu (this year) and they want to help protect themselves,” he said.
Hand sanitizer and face mask sales have also increased dramatically, Elsinger said.
Influenza is a relatively weak virus, so precautions like using hand sanitizer and washing hands vigorously work well to stop the disease from spreading, Wright said. In addition, “social distancing” is highly important, he said.
“When you’re sick, you should not be spending time with others,” Wright said. “That’s the best thing I can recommend.”
