October 18, 2018

Four local health organizations give flu shots to thousands of students

By Karl Oestreich

KTTC

An estimated 9,000 students from Rochester, Dover-Eyota, Stewartville, Pine Island Elementary, and Rochester Catholic Schools will get a flu KTTC-10-Rochester logoshot this fall, and it’s all thanks to four public health organizations. Mayo Clinic, Olmsted Medical Center, and Olmsted and Dodge County Public Health Departments are teaming up for the 10th anniversary of the in-school clinic. When this particular clinic started in 2008, it was only offered in two schools and immunized 170 students. But this year, the clinic was offered in 54 buildings with more than 9,000 students on track to be immunized.

Reach:  KTTC-TV Channel 10 is the Rochester, Minnesota-based NBC affiliate.  Its website has more than 160,00 unique visitors each month.

Additional coverage:
Post-BulletinIn-school flu shot program reaches fever pitch by Anne Halliwell — A Southeast Minnesota collaborative to deliver flu shots to students is hitting record levels this year. In total, some 9,000 junior-high and senior-high students have been, or will be, inoculated under the collaborative involving Mayo Clinic, Olmsted Medical Center, Olmsted County Public Health and Dodge County Public Health. That collaboration is in its 10th year… Kristina Hesby, the RN program coordinator for school health with Mayo, said that in the four weeks since the clinic started administering flu shots, they’ve already gotten to about 8,000 students at middle and high schools around Olmsted County.

KIMT, Flu shot clinic at local school tries to keep community healthy — As of Oct. 6, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports there were 183 pediatric deaths associated with last season's flu outbreak. To try and get ahead of this year’s virus, Mayo Clinic, Olmsted Medical Center, Dodge & Olmsted County Public Health are teaming up to provide students with their annual flu shot. This is their 10th year providing the service to students across southeast Minnesota.

Context: In most cases, yes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a yearly flu (influenza) vaccine for all children 6 months and older — ideally given as soon as the vaccine is available each year. This year the CDC recommends the flu shot or the nasal spray flu vaccine. In the past two flu seasons there was concern that the nasal spray vaccine wasn't effective enough against certain types of flu. The nasal spray vaccine is expected to be more effective in the 2018-2019 season. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics continues to recommend flu shots as the first choice for vaccinating children against the flu. You can read more about flu shots and children here.

Contact: Heather Carlson

 

Tags: Dodge County Public Health, flu shots, flu vaccine, KTTC, Mayo Clinic, Olmsted County Public Health, Olmsted Medical Center, Uncategorized

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