We are soon approaching our third flu clinic this Saturday, October 24th, from 9 AM to 2 PM. The flu clinic will be in our Lincoln office. The H1N1 intranasal spray will be available in addition to the regular flu vaccine. We have vaccinated over eleven hundred children so far during the first two clinics. Overall, things have gone very well thanks to careful planning and your patience and cooperation.

There is preservative free injectable seasonal flu vaccine available for children ages 6-35 months of age. There is a more limited supply of injectable vaccine for children 3 years of age and older. The RI Department of Health is therefore advising physicians to reserve the injectable seasonal flu vaccine for patients who are contraindicated to get the intransal vaccine. (See below). We are asking for your cooperation in this matter. The intranasal seasonal flu vaccine is available for healthy children ages 2-19 years old.

The target age group for the H1N1 intranasal vaccine is healthy children ages 2-5 years old who are not presently in school. Children attending school in Rhode Island will be offered the vaccine through the school system when it is available. The one exception to this is children who attend smaller, private/independent preschool or kindergarten settings. These children will receive the vaccine through their personal physician. It is helpful if your child is able to “sniff” for us to administer the intranasal vaccine to keep it from dripping out of the nose. Practicing beforehand with a saline nasal spray is one thing you could do in preparation for vaccine administration. A vaccine representative has reassured us, however, that the vaccine should be effective even if a small amount of the vaccine is able to be given.

Contraindicationsto giving the intranasal vaccine (seasonal or H1N1) include:

• Children less than 2 years of age;
• Children with a medical condition that places them at higher risk for complications from influenza, including those with chronic heart or lung disease, such as asthma or reactive airways disease;  children with medical conditions such as diabetes or kidney failure; or children with illnesses that weaken the immune system, or who take medications that can weaken the immune system;
• Children younger than 5 years old with a history of recurrent wheezing;
• Children receiving aspirin therapy;
• Children who have had Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare disorder of the nervous system, within 6 weeks of getting a flu vaccine,
• Children who have a severe allergy to chicken eggs or who are allergic to any of the nasal spray vaccine components.

If your child falls into one of the above categories, you will need to wait until the shot for H1N1 is available. We do not know when this will occur, so please continue to check our web site. We strongly encourage families to have their child immunized with the regular flu vaccine as well as the H1N1 vaccine if possible.  We cannot give both the H1N1 and regular flu vaccine together intranasally. We can give the H1N1 intranasally and a regular flu shot at the same time, however. If an intranasal vaccine is given, there must be a 28 day waiting period before the second dose can be given.

No appointment is necessary for this Saturday so please do not call. This is for our patients only and is not open to the public. In addition, we are scheduling appointments Tuesday through Friday from 11 AM-Noon, and 2 PM-3 PM for H1N1 vaccination.

Thank you for your continued patience and cooperation.

LPA