Youngsters in schools and other Arkansas residents may need to get three flu shots this year to protect against both regular seasonal flu and swine flu, a state Health Department official told lawmakers Wednesday.
Dr. James Phillips of the department's infectious disease branch said plans are under way to hold inoculation sessions at schools for students and in larger clinics to provide seasonal flu vaccines.
State health officials also hope to get adequate vaccine supplies for H1N1, commonly known as swine flu. Phillips said the H1N1 vaccine would likely need a booster shot a few weeks later, requiring two inoculation sessions outside the seasonal flu clinics.
"So we went from one mass clinic and one school clinic to three mass clinics and three in schools," Phillips told lawmakers during a joint meeting of the House and Senate interim education committees.
Phillips said between 8 percent and 10 percent of the population generally contracts seasonal flu each year. But he believes swine flu could afflict far more people, possibly as much as 30 percent to 50 percent during the fall and winter.
"There's no innate resistance among younger individuals," he said. "We have a more susceptible population."
He said H1N1 appears to be the dominant flu strain in the Southern Hemisphere, where it's now winter. He said 95 percent of individuals getting sick with the flu test positive for swine flu.
Phillips said publicity campaigns this fall will stress steps to minimize the spread of flu, such as keeping children home from school if they get a fever or display other flu symptoms.
Center for Health Protection director Donnie Smith told lawmakers that swine flu was already affecting students.
"H1N1 is present now," he said. "We feel confident there are children right now who are missing school because they have H1N1."
Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, expressed concern for parents whose jobs could be in jeopardy if they unexpectedly have to stay home with a sick child. She asked Phillips if there were plans to provide facilities to help.
"We're not far along on that, so far," Phillips said.
Sen. Shane Broadway, D-Bryant, asked if the state still had a stockpile of Tamiflu anti-viral medication that the state spent $4 million to acquire four or five years ago as a precaution against a major outbreak of bird flu, a big concern at the time. Phillips said that stockpile was still on hand and could be used if swine flu became widespread.