Health officials answer H1N1 questions

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Tippecanoe County Health Department administrators answered questions about H1N1 during a live web chat on WLFI.com. More than 800 people watched the web cast while Health Officer Dr. Michael Bohlin and Health Department Administrator Ron Cripe answered viewer's questions dealing with the H1N1 virus.

One viewer asked: if I was already sick with H1N1, should I still get the vaccine? The answer is yes.

"H1N1 is new to your body," Dr. Bohlin said. "It may not cause enough immunity when it first affects you in order to cause it not to come back again. If you are in those high risk groups, you should go ahead and get a vaccine."

Viewers also voiced concern about the health department's way of distributing vaccinations to 7 major groups in Lafayette. The vaccines are dispersed throughout the health system.

"Its been difficult in the larger groups to cover all those bases," Dr. Bohlin explain. "We are aware of that discrepancy and are trying to rectify plus we will be trying to allot more to the pediatricians more directly."

Dr. Bohlin said if the H1N1 virus is like other global epidemics, it will hit in three waves.

"Two to three weeks into the second wave right now. I do except this to be around all of November and probably some into December as well. It may go on longer than that. Do I think it has reached it's peak? No," said Dr. Bohlin.

So how long will it take the vaccine to take effect? Dr. Bohlin said it takes two weeks to reach immunity. And both health department administrators say if you or your child have flu-like symptoms, please stay home.

"You will infect other people if you go in. The most responsible thing is please, not passing your H1N1 virus onto other people because you cannot control how sick someone else gets from it," Dr. Bohlin said.

Another concern came from a viewer who's child already received the H1N1 vaccine.

After getting the first shot of the vaccine, a month later you are supposed to get a second shot in an ideal situation. Doctor Bohlin says Tippecanoe County doesn't have enough of the vaccine to give the first shot to everyone.

"Even though you child has not gotten the second dose, they still have generated immunity from the first dose," explained Dr. Bohlin. "That means they probably have about 50 to 60 percent immunity from the first does which is still very respectable. A lot of times they add that second does to try and get them above 90 percent."

 There will be another web chat on our website with the health department on December 15th at 3 p.m.

The Health Department hopes to have more vaccines available by next Friday, November 13, 2009, when they will hold their own clinic for children to get vaccinated.