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PLATTSBURGH — Health officials say some local people seem nervous about getting flu vaccine as a nasal mist instead of the shot.

There is no danger from the H1N1 or seasonal flu mists to healthy people, they assure.

CLINIC TODAY
The Clinton County Health Department is holding an H1N1 vaccine clinic from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at the Plattsburgh State Field House. It is open only to pregnant women and adults age 25 to 64 with chronic health conditions. The vaccine will be given for free.

Hundreds of other vaccine doses have been distributed to pediatricians and other health providers in the county, so people who need shots for their children, for example, should call their doctor.

MIST WORKS WELL
Only flu shots will be available for this first public H1N1 clinic, but health officials want to make it clear that vaccines delivered in either mist and shots will protect against seasonal flu and H1N1.

The flu mist contains a live H1N1 virus, which is what might be making some people nervous, but it has been chemically weakened so it cannot cause illness in people who receive it.

A person's immune system responds to the virus and develops immunity against any full-strength flu virus.

The flu mist vaccine does not pose any kind of threat to healthy people and in many ways provides better protection against H1N1.

"A lot of people seem to be afraid of the flu mist, but live vaccines have a long track record of safety," said Ruth Lucas, public-health nurse for the Clinton County Health Department.

"If you have a functioning immune system, you are more than capable of handling this weakened version (of the H1N1 virus)."

The flu mist is targeted for people age 2 to 49 who do not have underlying conditions, such as asthma or other serious medical problems.

And since it is administered directly into the lungs through the nose, it begins to set up immunity almost instantly.

"For some people, the response is very robust," Lucas said. "It's proven to be very effective, especially in children."

Children and adults have been receiving live vaccines regularly for generations, Lucas noted. The annual MMR (mumps, measles and rubella) vaccines are made from live viruses, as are many of the shots needed for traveling overseas.

Dr. David Woodland, director of Trudeau Institute, where he and other scientists specialize in influenza research, told the Press-Republican Editorial Board that the mist is, "in principle, a far superior vaccine than the shot" because it stimulates such a good white-blood-cell response.

CAN'T SPREAD
Lucas has also heard fears that people with underlying conditions and very young children who come into contact with someone who has just received the mist vaccine are in danger of catching swine flu from the vaccinated person.

She said the only people who need to be concerned with H1N1 spreading from the flu-mist vaccine "are those with very seriously compromised immune systems. For instance, someone who has had a bone-marrow transplant and is in isolation at the hospital could be at risk from that.

"But by the time that person is discharged, there is no longer that kind of risk. An infant or someone with cancer cannot catch H1N1 from a person who just received the flu-mist vaccine."

MORE FOR OTHERS
The shortage of both injectable and flu-mist vaccines available across the region continues.

If more healthy people would choose the flu mist, more shots would be available for the people who have underlying medical conditions and cannot take the mist, Lucas said.

Also, the injectable vaccine is more difficult to make, she noted.

For every single dose of injectable vaccine made, five doses of the flu mist can be manufactured because a smaller amount of the virus is needed.

"The more people we can immunize against the flu, the less illness we'll see in the community," Lucas said.

"The flu mist is a safe and effective alternative."

E-mail Jeff Meyers at: jmeyers@pressrepublican.com