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Swine flu claims another life in SB County

By Brian Bullock / Staff Writer / bbullock@syvnews.com

With the number of deaths attributed to the H1N1 flu virus in Santa Barbara County climbing to six last week, the Public Health Department has scheduled more vaccination clinics open to all residents — including one Wednesday in Solvang.

Last week, a woman in her 50s succumbed to complications from the virus, according to Public Health. As has been the case with all local deaths, the woman had underlying medical conditions.

Santa Barbara County held a community vaccination clinic Monday at Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara and will hold another one from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16, at the Solvang Veterans Memorial Building, 1745 Mission Drive.

Unlike earlier clinics, this one is open to everyone. The first-round community clinics specifically targeted high-risk groups that included pregnant women, children 6 months to 18 years, parents of infants, and health-care workers.

Those limitations have been removed, primarily because increased production of vaccine has made it more readily available nationwide.

“We’re very pleased with the amount of vaccine we’ve received. We’ve been able to open up the community clinics to all residents,” said Susan Klein-Rothschild, public information officer for the Public Health Department.

As of last week, county hospitals had seen 55 confirmed cases of the virus this season, with patients ranging in age from 12 days and 82 years.

Nearly 94,000 doses of the vaccine have been distributed in Santa Barbara County so far, with the majority (60,830) being sent directly to private clinics and heath-care providers.

County Public Health said it has received 33,120 doses with 7,820 being passed on to private providers. The county has vaccinated 2,810 patients at Public Health Department clinics and 12,222 through its community vaccination clinics.

The community clinic scheduled Wednesday in Solvang is the last one of the year, Klein-Rothschild said. One final round of community clinics will be held in each of the county’s larger cities in January. After that, the vaccine will be available through regular county immunization programs.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, there have been fewer reported cases of H1N1 over the past five weeks. In the final week of November, states reporting widespread flu activity decreased from 32 to 25.

California is one of the states that reported a decline in activity.

Despite the decline, health professionals are urging people to get vaccinated.

“We’re hopeful that decline will continue, but we don’t know that it will,” Klein-Rothschild said. “We are entering the time of our seasonal flu, so we have to be aware.”

December 15, 2009