Coalition to celebrate flu immunization program for Alachua County

February 28, 2011

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A three-year volunteer-driven campaign to immunize children in local schools has made Alachua County residents among the most protected in the United States against contracting influenza.

The Alachua County FluMist Program, a coalition of community groups and 300 volunteers, offers free immunizations to public and private school students to protect not only children but the entire county.

“About 65 percent of elementary and middle school children in Alachua County were vaccinated against the flu in 2009 because of our program,” said Cuc Tran, FluMist program coordinator. “It was the highest immunization rate in the state, and possibly the nation. The program is a remarkable community effort.”

The coalition of 25 organizations includes school nurses, pediatricians, volunteers, and University of Florida students and faculty in the health professions. They will celebrate their achievements and announce the results of last fall’s vaccination program at 2:30 p.m. March 1 in the Terrell Auditorium of Littlewood Elementary School. Eastside High School culinary students and Sweet Dreams ice creamery will provide beverages and a dessert buffet at the event, which is free and open to the public.

Health experts often say that schools are virus exchange systems and children are considered “super spreaders” because they spread more of the virus and do so for a longer period of time than adults. Studies indicate that if 70 percent of school children are immunized against the flu, the entire community can be protected.

UF nursing students, many of whom participate in the program, help inform parents of school-aged children about the importance of flu prevention. The FluMist program is an integral part of a UF nursing curriculum that focuses on population care.

“Our students gain an appreciation for the multiple hats that school nurses have to wear,” said Joan Castleman, clinical associate professor in the UF College of Nursing. “It’s a complex job.”

The FluMist program has received monetary donations from CHOICES, AvMed Healthcare and Wal-Mart to help pay for program costs, and the state Health Department donated vaccines. Local pediatricians supported the program by encouraging healthy children to receive the FluMist vaccine in the schools, while they vaccinated students with chronic health conditions with the flu shot.

The coalition is working with event keynote speaker Nichole Bobo, the educational director of the National Association of School Nurses, on developing a nationwide toolkit to train nurses on how to replicate the program in their communities.

Sources:
Cuc Tran, program coordinator, 352-273-8272, tranc@epi.ufl.eduParker Small, emeritus professor, 352-378-4282, smallgroup2@aol.comJoan Castleman, clinical associate professor, UF College of Nursing, 352-273-6362, jbcastle@ufl.edu