The flu, including the common seasonal flu, is causing havoc in a few locations. Cardinal Newman High School in Columbia has postponed Friday night?s football game against Hammond, because 40 percent of the team is out with the flu.
Officials at the Department of Health and Environmental Control say there are plenty of seasonal flu vaccines waiting at Health Department clinics and many other locations statewide.
Adam Myrick with DHEC encourages members of the public not to be discouraged if the first place they go is out of the vaccine. He says the amount of vaccine a clinic has is dependent on the distributor it uses.
Go to www.SCDHEC.gov for information about vaccine locations.
The first shipment of the new H1N1 vaccine is expected to arrive in South Carolina between Friday and the first of next week. It was originally expected this past Monday.
Each of the two different vaccines only prevents the influenza for which it was meant and they are not interchangeable. But Myrick advises that people who haven’t received the regular seasonal vaccine go ahead and get vaccinated, and not wait on arrival of the H1N1.
Even though the nasal vaccinations may be the first to arrive, Myrick says they’re not best for everyone and you should check with your provider before deciding whether you want the nasal or the injectable variety.
Myrick says more than 90 percent of flu cases in South Carolina now are regular seasonal flu, not H1N1.
Myrick says it’s hard for officials to know just how many cases of flu there are, because most people aren’t going to a doctor, clinic or hospital, but riding out the illness at home.
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