Dallas County still swine flu-free at the moment
Published 12:22 am Saturday, August 22, 2009
Dallas County Health Officer Ashvin Parikh said there are no confirmed cases of swine flu in the area.
Rumors that a student at John T. Morgan Academy had the illness are untrue, according to the school’s counselor.
“We have some children that are sick, but we have not been told they have swine flu,” said Sheryl Schroeder, the school’s counselor.
Students are asked to remain home until they are free from fever for at least 24 hours.
School officials have urged students and their parents to take precautions, such as not attending school if they don’t feel well.
Schroeder said plenty of soap and hand sanitizers are available for students, staff and faculty. Clorox wipes are used to clean classrooms.
Lately only one or two students have called in sick, said Schroeder.
“We have kids sick all the time.”
The school will not require swine flu vaccination of the students when the vaccine becomes available.
Dallas County should see the arrival of swine flue vaccine at the health department by mid-October, Parikh said.
The state of Alabama should get 600,000 doses of the swine flu vaccine by mid-October and 300,000 doses every two weeks after, Parikh said.
Pregnant women, daycare workers, people ages 6 months to 24 years and others who have health problems will receive the first available vaccines, he said.
Parikh said healthy people will have to wait.
“Hopefully, there will be enough vaccine for everybody,” Parikh said.