FluPortal.org

Since the public-health campaign for the H1N1 vaccine and the logistics of its distribution are still very much in the news this week, these two photos from the 1976 swine-flu outbreak may be of interest. They’re from the CDC’s Public Health Image Library, which contains a searchable database of public-domain photographs.

This first picture shows an immunization campaign in New Jersey. A jet injector is being used in lieu of a syringe.

[CDC (usable on your site)]

This photo shows stores a warehouse stocked with swine-flu vaccine.

[CDC (usable on your site)]

The image is undated but presumably was also taken around the time of the ‘76 scare.

The H1N1 news last week was all about vaccines — how many doses are trickling in and where, how they’ll be distributed, and how to get vulnerable people protected first.

Now you can offer your audience a handy tool to find the closest available shot: Flu.gov’s vaccine locator. It looks like this:

[Flu.gov]

It allows you to click on your state and then search for an H1N1 vaccine near you. The vaccine still isn’t widely available, but expect to see more options soon. (The map also offers info on where to get seasonal-flu vaccines.)

The locator isn’t currently offered as an embeddable widget, but it’s easy to link to it in a story or on a station H1N1 page.

[Lance McCord / cc (usable on your site) / Flickr]

As you may know, FluPortal is collecting public media coverage of the H1N1 pandemic. To help this effort, we’re using the social bookmarking service Delicious.com. You can see our full list of H1N1 bookmarks on the FluPortal Delicious page. You’ll also see the tags we are using to organize the links we find. The number of stories associated with certain tags gives a sense of how H1N1 coverage is developing. Earlier this fall, we saw many reports on how schools and universities were preparing for the return of students. Lately, there have been numerous stories about the development and distribution of the H1N1 vaccine. Here are a few from the first week of October:

• OPB | H1N1 Vaccine Arriving And There Will Be Enough, Eventually
• VPR News | ‘Small portion’ of H1N1 vaccine arrives in NH
• KPCC | Lawmakers look to persuade most vulnerable to get swine flu vaccine

You can subscribe by RSS to our bookmarks at the bottom of our Delicious page. If you’re interested in a specific sub-topic, like the H1N1 vaccine, you can select any of our tags and subscribe by RSS to those stories only.

[prashant_zi / CC (usable on your site) / Flickr]

On Tuesday, the FDA approved the H1N1 vaccine. You’ll find the press release here. NPR’s Health Blog (which is a good general resource for H1N1 news) reported on it. It followed up with a post on the debate about vaccinating pregnant women, pointing to an ATC piece on a relevant vaccine trial and also to the CDC’s vigorous recommendation that pregnant women should be vaccinated.

Like schools and universities, childcare and early childhood programs will be watched closely this fall for any signs of seasonal or H1N1 influenza. The Center for Disease Control has issued new prevention guidance that highlights the dangers posed to young children. From the report:

Children less than 5 years of age are at increased risk of complications from [the flu]; the risk is greater among children less than 2 years old. Importantly, infants less than 6 months of age represent a particularly vulnerable group because they are too young to receive the seasonal or 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine; as a result, individuals responsible for caring for these children constitute a high-priority group for early vaccination.

Health offiicials have yet to suggest elementary and secondary schools close their doors at the first sign of H1N1 infection among students, but this new CDC report does call for childcare providers to consider “selective closures” to prevent the spread of flu among young children. On Flu.gov, you can read the full report, check out a communications toolkit for childcare centers, and read the technical report for state and local health officials on the risks posed to young children.