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INDIANAPOLIS – State health officials confirmed Wednesday that the peak of H1N1 activity has passed and also unveiled a strategy to target college-age Hoosiers for the vaccine in an effort to avoid a third wave of the flu.
State Health Commissioner Judy Monroe said emergency room and doctor visits as well as hospitalizations related to flu-like illnesses continue to decrease.
There were eight deaths in the most recent week, bringing the total number of flu deaths to 35. Of those, 33 are from H1N1.
Monroe said even though the peak of activity has passed, deaths will likely continue for several weeks because some Hoosiers spend weeks in the hospital fighting the flu before succumbing. And there sometimes is a delay in reporting deaths to the state.
“It is typical to see deaths steady or higher even though activity is decreasing,” she said.
To date, more than 564,000 doses of vaccine have been given statewide, according to the state’s vaccination registry. And some smaller, rural counties are starting to move past focusing on target groups to serve the general population.
More than 1.2 million doses have been ordered.
Monroe announced a key change in vaccine distribution to focus on college-age Hoosiers. She said thousands of doses are being taken off the top of the state’s vaccine allocation and sent to colleges to target those ages 18 to 24. Then the remaining vaccine allocation is distributed to counties based on population.
“We’re taking a hard look now at how much vaccine is coming into the state and how best to divide that up,” Monroe said.
This week, 7,000 additional doses were sent for Ball State University; 10,000 for Indiana University; 4,000 for the University of Notre Dame; 10,000 for Purdue University; 5,000 for the University of Southern Indiana; and 16,800 for Indiana State University and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology collectively.
Monroe said IPFW and other smaller colleges could expect a special allocation of vaccine next week.
She said the purpose of the new strategy is to get college students vaccinated before they go home for winter break. She said if a third wave appears it would likely be fueled by college students returning from holiday travel. This is similar to a burst of cases when colleges went back into session in the fall.
Monroe noted that almost half of all confirmed positives for H1N1 in the state are in the 19-to-24 age group.
“That’s why we think this is a good strategy,” she said.
