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Swine flu vaccine now available but students biding their time

Staff photo by JAY CONNER

Taylor Seybold, a junior at Freedom High School, gets a swine flu shot as vaccinations reached Hillsborough high schools today.

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By SHERRI ACKERMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 26, 2009

Updated: 10/26/2009 08:14 pm

TAMPA - A fraction signed up for it and even fewer made it through the process Monday as Hillsborough schools extended its vaccination program to students at selected high schools and middle schools.

"I think people are kind of taking a wait and see approach," said Chris Farkas, principal at Freedom High in New Tampa, where about 500 of the school's 2,198 students turned in permission slips for the H1N1 vaccine. "The information is coming out so quickly."

The Hillsborough County Health Department reported giving 2,026 vaccinations at public schools Monday, said school district spokesman Steve Hegarty. Most went to students.

A survey conducted by the district last week showed that 55 percent of the 25,551 parents responding said they planned to have their children vaccinated at the schools.

It's still too early to tell if those expectations will be met, officials said.

"I was pleased," Hegarty said. "We got a couple thousand done when most counties are just starting to make plans to do it."

Schools were still receiving permission slips this week, he said. Nurses hired by the health department will return to schools today to administer more of the vaccine.

The health department began its free swine flu campaign in public schools last week at the district's exceptional centers. It moved to nine middle and high schools this week and to designated after-school sites for elementary students next week.

Parents are being notified through permission slips and automated telephone messages. The district keeps an updated schedule online at www.sdhc.k12.fl.us

Varsity cheerleaders Nicole and Taylor Seybold were among the 195 Freedom students to get their swine flu shots Monday.

"I was kind of nervous," admitted Nicole, 15.

"It didn't hurt," added her sister, Taylor, 16.

Their parents signed up the girls for shots and not the nasal mist option because the mist contains the live H1N1 virus, Nicole said.

"My mom thought it might make us sick," Taylor said.

That seems to be a concern among many parents, said registered nurse Karen Yancy, who administered Taylor's vaccine. Yancy was surprised by how many parents had opted to bypass the spray.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said neither form of the vaccine causes illness. Also, the intranasal spray does not include thimerosal or other preservatives, the CDC says.

Tell that to Clyde Trathowen, principal at Spoto High in Riverview where only 241 students out of 1,380 got vaccinated. He doesn't plan to get vaccinated, he said, because he has gotten sick before after getting the seasonal flu shot.

At Eisenhower Middle School in Gibsonton, 800 of the more than 1,400 students are on board for vaccinations, said Principal Dena Collins. Health officials reported giving 350 vaccinations at the school Monday.

And that's good because more students seem to be sick this year, Collins said.

About 100 students a day are staying home due to illness – a 2 percent increase from last year, Collins said. But students, staff and parents are doing their part, she said.

The school keeps disinfectant in each classroom to clean desks and chairs and other surfaces touched by many. Custodians take special care each day to ensure cleanliness, and parents are teaching their children to be vigilant about hand washing, she said.

Absenteeism at Freedom also has been a little higher than usual, Farkas said, in part because of swine flu and in part because students no longer feel the same pressure to record perfect attendance as they have in past years.

Perfect attendance used to exempt those with good grades from some exams but the school board ended the policy this year in an effort to prevent students sick with swine flu from coming to school.

At Gibsonton's East Bay High, where 600 of the school's 2,000 students were expected to get the swine flu shot or mist, 162 were vaccinated, the health department reported.

Liberty Middle school reported about 400 of its approximately 2,470 students had turned in permission slips for the vaccine; 255 got it Monday, Hegarty said.

Officials at both schools said the absentee rate was normal for this time of year.

At Freedom High, Nicole and Taylor Seybold said a lot of their friends had colds and a few were home with swine flu.

"I'm washing my hands all the time," Nicole said. "I don't want to get the swine flu."

Reporter Sherri Ackerman can be reached (813) 259-7144.

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