Flu epidemic hits Missouri as Cape gets more vaccine

Federal officials announced Thursday that the flu has hit hard in Missouri and 23 other states, nearly twice as many as last week, prompting public health officials to offer more flu shots in Cape Girardeau and elsewhere.

The Cape Girardeau Public Health Center -- which vaccinated over 4,600 people this fall before running out of the flu vaccine -- recently obtained 500 more doses. Public health nurses will give the vaccinations on a first-come, first served basis beginning Monday, said health center director Charlotte Craig.

Federal officials announced Thursday that more than 100,000 doses of the flu vaccine would be rushed across the country to combat vaccine shortages.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said the government had arranged for 100,000 doses of adult vaccine to be shipped from Aventis Pastuer immediately and distributed based on each state's population.

In addition, 150,000 doses of children's vaccine were expected to be shipped to the states by January, Thompson said.

But Craig said the additional 500 doses of the vaccine being offered locally came from a supply in St. Louis and are not a part of the added doses the government plans to distribute.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said the flu has hit all 50 states at least sporadically, and the season has not yet peaked nationally. Almost the entire western half of the country is now considered to have widespread flu.

The early and intense outbreak in some Western states has swamped many hospitals with sick children and dried up vaccine supplies.

In Cape Girardeau County, there have been 77 confirmed cases of the flu, Craig said.

The outbreak has taken an enormous toll nationwide: At least 20 children have died. Schools have shut down. Emergency rooms have been filled with sick children. And doctors' offices have been forced to turn away droves of people seeking flu shots.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, recommended prioritizing flu shots for high-risk groups, which include the elderly, children under 24 months old, those with chronic medical conditions, and women in the second- and third-trimester of pregnancy.

At least 11 children have died in the outbreak, and some experts predict this year's death toll easily could surpass the annual average of 36,000 deaths.

However, epidemiologists are not ready to predict just how severe the flu season will be, since it still may peak as early as December, rather than February, which is the norm.

On Thursday, the CDC added Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island and West Virginia to the list of states with widespread flu activity, meaning outbreaks of influenza or increases in influenza-like illnesses and lab-confirmed influenza samples in at least half the state.

Last week, only Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming were listed as having widespread activity by the CDC.

Anecdotally, this flu season seems to be worse for children, and the CDC said it plans to closely watch flu complications among them. Flu and its complications are the sixth leading cause of death nationally among children age 4 and younger, according to the CDC.

The CDC also said Tuesday it is trying to redistribute what's left of the 83 million flu shots made, and may buy fewer than 500,000 additional doses from a British maker.

Southeast Missourian staff writer Mark Bliss contributed to this story.