College hits 250th isolation case

As the number of students succumbing to H1N1 or other influenza-like illness continues to grow — with more than 247 students having been isolated since August — the shipments of the H1N1 vaccine received by Parton Health Center re- main steady yet small.

Following the initial shipment and clinic that took place on Oct. 22, in which the health center received 150 doses of the nasal vaccine only, Parton has received two other shipments. A second, smaller shipment of nasal vaccine went unadvertised; the center relied on word-of-mouth and administered the vaccine to individual students who walked in and requested it.

The third shipment arrived last week and consisted of 200 doses of the injectable vaccine. After separately contacting a group of high- risk students — those with asthma and other chronic ailments — and conducting a clinic for them on Nov. 6, during which 31 students received the vaccine, Parton opened up the remaining doses to all students. On the morning of Monday, Nov. 9, students were invited in a campus-wide e-mail to dial a designated appointment-only phone number between the hours of 9-11 a.m. It took little more than two hours to fill up every available slot during the three and a half hours set aside for the clinic, which took place the next day, on Tuesday, Nov. 10, between 12:30 and 4 p.m.

According to Terry Jenny, Par- ton’s associate director, the phone was ringing off the hook on Monday morning.

“[Bonnie Betourney, the secretary on duty] would hang up the phone and it would ring again,” she said, as students anxious about receiving the vaccine hurried to sign up for the Tuesday clinic.

One of those anxious students was Shane Scranton ’12.5. On Mon- day morning, Scranton had class throughout the two-hour window designated by the health center, and was concerned with having enough time to schedule an appointment.

“I think I called them about 80 times,” he said. “It was kind of ridiculous.”

Scranton eventually reached the health center, but after prolonged efforts was unable to secure an appointment due to scheduling conflicts he had with the only available time slots remaining. “It was pretty frustrating, but given that they’re dealing with such a low sup- ply, I feel like they’re handling it pretty good,” he said. “I still wish that the health center had some better way of assessing who needs the vaccine most, or could as- sure all students an equal chance of getting it.”

Scranton not only had class during the designated appointment call-in time Monday morning, but also during the Oct. 22 open clinic. He expressed dissatisfaction with the health center’s inability to accommodate students’ morning class com- mitments, and suggested Parton include an evening session in future clinic arrangements.

“There’s got to be a better time when more people are available,” he said.

The shipments of vaccine arrive with meager regularity from the Center for Disease Control via the Vermont State Department of Health. Each week, an unknown amount of vaccine arrives; each week, Parton renews its request form, subtracting the amount of vac- cine received thus far from the amount originally requested and requesting the balance.

“I would love if they would drop 1,800 doses of vaccine in our lap,” said Jenny. “Then we could just do the clinics and be done with it ... But what we get is what we get.”

The State Department of Health originally set up a variety of clinics based in schools, but it cancelled most of them because it then decided to distribute the vaccines differently — for example, through individual doctors’ offices.
The piecemeal way in which shipments arrive has caused difficulty and frustration for both Parton and students. Jenny expressed re- gret about the Oct. 22 clinic, in which an ad- vertised five-hour availability had to close after 30 minutes because of sheer demand. She de- scribed it as a “hullabaloo.”

“We had about 225 people in line by 9:30 a.m.,” she said, and only 150 doses available. “So we counted heads, and we sent anyone past 150 away.”

“It’s difficult,” she continued. “It’s a hard position to be in. Everybody’s doing the best they can. We don’t want to raise expectations so high and then disappoint people, which I think is what happened [on Oct. 22]. That was really hard... We’re just winging it like everybody else.” Carolyn Kooi ’12 came down with an influenza-like illness two weeks ago. “I felt normal until I went into the healthcenter and they told me I had a fever. Two days later I was burning up with a 103-degree fever,” she said.  Kooi, who has asthma, took advantage of the Nov. 6 clinic for high-risk students. “It was pretty chill,” she said. “You walk in, you turn around, they give you the injection, and you walk out. I think it was handled amazingly well.”

Though the H1N1 epidemic is evidently in full swing, the regular flu season has not even begun. Parton continues to await the arrival of the seasonal flu vaccine, the date of which the Department of Health has not yet indicated.

“I have no idea when we’ll get it,” said Jenny. “They keep saying, ‘The middle of next month, the middle of next week,’ but we’re just not seeing it. When it shows up, it’ll show up.”