University Times

Medical care is readily available to those on Pitt’s Oakland campus – unless someone is looking for a flu shot. Like many institutions affected by the nationwide flu vaccine shortage, Student Health Services and UPMC cancelled all of their flu shot clinics, which were scheduled to begin at the end of this month.

UPMC didn’t receive the145,000 doses of flu vaccine it ordered from a Chiron Corp. facility in England, according to Jocelyn Uhl, UPMC spokesperson. British regulators shut down the drug company — the largest U.S. flu vaccine supplier — because of potential contamination, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration. And since UPMC supplies Student Health Services with flu vaccines, it’s out of shots as well.

The Student Health Service typically administers up to 800 flu vaccines annually to students and some faculty and staff, according to director Marcee Radakovich. “We are encouraging those people in high-risk categories to secure flu shots somewhere else as we work to secure vaccines.” The Allegheny County Health Department is offering flu shots – while they last — to high-priority candidates, according to the health departments website.

Although UPMC is working with the CDC to acquire more flu vaccines, the health system doesn’t how many doses it will ultimately secure, Uhl said. The health system has about 5,000 doses from an alternate supplier, which is being held in reserve for high-risk patients. And another 5,000 inhaled vaccines were acquired for health care workers, she said.

“We’re in a substantial vaccine shortage — there’s not enough shots for high-risk groups,” confirmed Richard Zimmerman, associate professor of family medicine at the School of Medicine and past chair of the CDC influenza working group for the advisory committee on immunization practices, which sets civilian policy for the CDC. The agency’s priority groups for immunization are: Children aged 6 to 23 months, adults aged 65 or older, pregnant women, residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities, anyone with an underlying chronic condition and children aged 6 months to 18 years on chronic aspirin therapy.

But according to Zimmerman, it’s too early to tell how much of a crisis looms in the future: The number of vaccines secured in next few months and the severity of the flu season is still unknown. The flu season typically runs from December through March but can start as early as November, as was the case last year.

Besides constant personal hygiene, the CDC and Zimmerman recommend antiviral medications by prescription to prevent and better manage the flu. Student Health Services and UPMC have ordered extra antiviral doses, according to officials. “Get treatment early – within 48 hours of the classic flu symptoms,” Zimmerman said.

Symptoms include a fever higher than 99 degrees, sore throat, cough, muscle aches and headache.

-Mary Ann Thomas