County sees early start to its annual flu clinics

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[September 03, 2010]

County sees early start to its annual flu clinics

JEFFERSON, Sep 03, 2010 (Star Beacon - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Vaccine already on hand, and not any particular disease lurking in the shadows, has allowed the Ashtabula County Health Department to get a big jump on its annual flu clinics, officials said.

The first clinic will be held 1 to 4 p.m. Sept. 14 at the health department office, 12 W. Jefferson St., Jefferson, according to a partial list released by the health department. Three more clinics will be held in September and one in early October. More dates and locations will be released in the future.

Included among the seasonal vaccine is one specific to the H1N1 virus, last year's headline-grabbing disease. Unlike 2009, however, H1N1 poses no heightened threat to the area, said Chris Kettunen, the health department's director of nursing. As a result, no special clinics have been scheduled, like the ones held in schools across the county.

"We don't anticipate any school clinics," she said.

The ready availability of vaccine has made the county feel confident enough about inventory -- and future shipments -- to announce clinics nearly a month ahead of schedule. "Usually we don't start until October, but we have doses already," Kettunen said.

Other early clinics include: --Sept. 16 -- Kingsville Township Fire Hall, Route 84 and Route 193 (10 a.m.-noon) --Sept. 22 -- Ashtabula Township Hall, 2718 N. Ridge Road E. (9 a.m.-noon) --Sept. 27 -- Northwest Ambulance District, 1480 S. Broadway, Geneva (9 a.m.-1 p.m.) --Oct. 1 -- Ashtabula County Health Department, 12 W. Jefferson St., Jefferson (9 a.m.-1 p.m.) New this year is a special "high dose" of vaccine that health experts recommend for people 65 years and older. People can expect to pay more for the concentrated dose, Kettunen said.

Municipal health departments in Ashtabula and Conneaut have not announced any clinics.

To see more of the Star Beacon or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.starbeacon.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, Star Beacon, Ashtabula, Ohio Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail services@mctinfoservices.com, or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544).

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