This week, as Quad City area students go back to school after the holidays, it's not only the start of a new semester, it may also be the start of a third wave of H1N1.
"We may not have seen the worst," says Roma Taylor with the Scott County Health Department. The current wave of H1N1 may have faded in severity and from the headlines, but now students who traveled home for the holidays may be bringing H1N1 back to school.
The threat is such that Scott County is doing something extraordinary: bringing the vaccine directly to every school.
"This is the first time we've gone into schools to do the flu vaccine," Taylor says. "We've gone in to do measles, mumps, rubella, but not flu vaccine."
The Scott County Health Department is sending out more than 30,000 parental consent forms, hoping to appeal to parents who so far haven't gotten their kids vaccinated against H1N1.
"It's more severe than seasonal flu, we've seen more deaths with this flu than other strains of the flu," Taylor says, "and we want to make sure as many students and teachers are protected as possible."
If you have questions about the Scott County Health Department's H1N1 school vaccine clinics, you may call the health department directly at (563) 326-8618.
