December 5, 2003 CASPER, Wyo. -- Flu vaccines are in short supply in Wyoming as residents line up to protect themselves from an early and potentially harsh season, health officials said.
"Hopefully, we will be successful in bringing in a couple thousand more doses, but at this point in time ... we don't know," said Marty Thone, a spokesman for the Casper-Natrona County Health Department.
In Natrona County, more than 6,000 people have been vaccinated this fall compared with 5,000 for the whole season in previous years, said Casper-Natrona County Health Department director Bob Harrington.
Vaccine manufacturers and suppliers also are having trouble keeping flu shots in stock, said Stephanie Nicholson, administrative assistant in the Wyoming Department of Health Immunization Program.
In a typical year 36,000 Americans die from the influenza virus, but flu researchers expect a higher death toll this year.
The flu season usually stretches from October to May, peaking in December and January, but this year cases were reported in some Western states as early as September.
So far, the flu has been blamed for the deaths of at least six children in Colorado, three in Texas and one each in Oklahoma and New Mexico this year.
Authorities in Indiana also were investigating whether the death of a 10-year-old girl might be that state's first from influenza this season. The child died Wednesday at a hospital in Indianapolis.
Children are particularly susceptible because their bodies have not previously been exposed to the virus that infects the nose, throat and lungs, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Texas was the first state this season where the flu was considered widespread, the CDC's most severe ranking. Nine other states -- Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas, Tennessee and Pennsylvania -- have since been classified as having widespread flu outbreaks.
More than 6,300 flu cases have been reported in Colorado, more than in the previous two years combined. North Dakota has tallied 292 flu cases so far, compared to just two this time last year. In Wyoming, 475 have been confirmed, compared to 533 last season.
Most of the outbreak this fall has been a strain called A-Fujian-H3N2, which was not selected for this year's flu vaccine, according to the CDC. Health experts say the strain is closely related to the strain the vaccine targets, A-Panama-H3N2.
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
