What do you really know about H1N1?

OAKWOOD - A Swine Flu (H1N1) Community Awareness meeting was held at Maranatha Christian Academy Friday evening.

Maranatha Principal Delma Simmons said, “We just wanted people to be informed here at Maranatha and in the Oakwood community, so we tried to get the message to come.”

Simmons added that you hear so much about H1N1 that the community needed to be aware of what’s actually going on.

The meeting featured a speaker from Northeast Georgia Medical Center as well as a guest from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)in Atlanta.

Better Meisch, Coordinator for Infection Control at the medical center, gave an overview of what’s happening in the Gainesville/Hall County area with the H1N1 virus.

“It [the virus]is in Gainesville. We have seen mild cases and we’ve seen those hospitalized very severe cases,” said Meisch. There have been no H1N1-related deaths in the area. Meish added everyone needs the vaccination because the virus is affecting the young and the healthy, which is unusual for flu.

CDC Public Affairs Specialist Arleen Porcell-Pharr said the CDC is monitoring widespread cases of H1N1 in 26 states, and Georgia is one of those states.

Porcell-Pharr said the swine flu is a serious disease and everybody has to do his or her part. And with the seasonal flu season starting everyone needs to get their regular shot plus the H1N1.

Porcell-Pharr said the first H1N1 vaccine would be in mist form, which will be administered like a nasal spray. This will be ready by October 5. Porcell-Pharr added the states that get the vaccination first will be those with the biggest populations. Porcell-Pharr said that is one reason that the first few weeks of distribution will be hectic.

“It will be really bumpy the first few weeks with distribution, but that will ease up and every one will soon get the vaccination. There will be 20 million dosages a week,” said Porcell-Pharr.

The rest of the vaccine will be available by mid October and early November.