November 09, 2009
Flu-Free Quad Cities Project Secures More Vaccine
Genesis Health System President and CEO Doug Cropper announced Monday that Genesis has been able to secure 2,200 pediatric doses of seasonal influenza vaccine and will be scheduling the remaining schools in the Flu-Free Quad Cities project.
Shipments of seasonal influenza vaccine have been sporadic across the country. The vaccine has been manufactured, but there have been shipping delays as manufacturers prioritized the shipping of H1N1 vaccine.
"We are pleased to be able to move forward with scheduling schools for the Flu-Free Quad-Cities initiative. We've worked closely with the manufacturer, Sanofi-Pastueur, in recent days to get additional vaccine shipped. We appreciate the cooperation we have received,'' Cropper said. "We were at a point when we were facing postponements of our Flu Free Quad Cities schools until we could get more of the vaccine we had ordered.
"We have already vaccinated more than 3,000 elementary school children and plans to reach out to an additional 5,000 children in Davenport, Moline and Rock Island. We're anxious to keep going with this important project and we will be scheduling the additional schools very soon."
In some schools, more than 40 percent of the children have been vaccinated. That is considered to be a very high number.
"Each child who is vaccinated protects five others around them from getting seasonal influenza. If we can vaccinate 8,000 children, we are also helping to protect their classmates, siblings, parents and grandparents,'' Cropper said.
Approximately $220,000 has been raised from business partners and individual donors to support the Flu-Free Quad Cities effort. Each dose of vaccine costs approximately $12.
This is the third year for the rapidly expanding program. Last year, more than 3,000 school children in Davenport, Clinton, Moline and East Moline took advantage of free flu protection.
The program was expanded to reach as many children as possible in 79 schools this fall. The vaccinations are provided free to children who voluntarily participate in Flu-Free Quad Cities. Parents need only to return a consent form.
In a study conducted by the Baylor College of Medicine, researchers found that by immunizing 20 to 25 percent of children in two communities, 8 to 18 percent of adults were indirectly protected from seasonal influenza.
Researchers found that illness rates among adults older than 35 who had not been vaccinated were reduced by 8 percent, 18 percent and 15 percent in the first, second and third years of the program. Medical visits declined 1,071 in the cities over the three years.
For information on how you can help create a Flu Free Quad Cities, call the Genesis Health Services Foundation at (563) 421-6865 or go to www.genesishealth.com/give.
Flu-Free Participating Schools
Davenport Public - Adams, Blue Grass, Buchanan, Buffalo, Eisenhower, Fillmore, Garfield, Harrison, Hayes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lincoln, Madison, McKinley, Monroe, Truman, Walcott, Washington, Wilson.
Quad-Cities Non-Public -- All Saints, Heritage Christian, John F. Kennedy, Quad Cities Montessori, St. Paul's, Lourdes, Morning Star Academy, Rivermont Collegiate, Seventh Day, Trinity Lutheran, Marquette.
Bettendorf - Grant Wood, Herbert Hoover, Mark Twain, Neil Armstrong, Paul Norton, Thomas Jefferson.
Pleasant Valley - Pleasant View, Riverdale Heights, Bridgeview (Le Claire), Cody (LeClaire).
North Scott - Alan Shepard (Long Grove), Ed White (Eldridge), John Glenn (Donahue), Neil Armstrong (Eldridge), Virgil Grissom (Princeton).
Rock Island - Audubon, Denkmann, Eugene Field, Francis Willard, Hanson, Horace Mann Choice, Longfellow, Intermediate Academy, Primary Academy, Ridgewood, Thomas Jefferson.
Moline - Jane Addams, Ben Franklin, Butterworth, Ericsson, Garfield, George Washington, Hamilton, Horace Mann, Jane Addams, Lincoln-Irving, Logan, Roosevelt, Willard.
Clinton County - Bluff (Clinton), Calamus-Wheatland, Delwood (Delmar), Eagle Heights (Clinton), Camanche, Ekstrand (DeWitt), Jefferson (Clinton), Northeast (Goose Lake), Prince of Peace (Clinton), St. Joseph (DeWitt), Whittier (Clinton), Unity (Fulton, Ill.).
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