Scott Clark, Media and Public Relations 254-724-9724 or 254-724-3047 Pager: 254-762-1406 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 22, 2007

Flu vaccinations for Temple-area children at no cost
- Part of a research study -

TEMPLE, Texas –  Starting October 26, researchers at Scott & White and Baylor College of Medicine  will vaccinate as many as 11,000 Temple-area children against the flu.

Part of a study is funded by the National Institutes of Health, and offers the flu immunizations will be offered at no charge to healthy school children age 4 to 18. Most children will receive the FluMist® nasal spray vaccine, instead of a flu shot in the arm. However, children who are not eligible to receive the FluMist® vaccine because of chronic illnesses may receive a flu shot and still participate in the study.

This is the eighth year for this special flu study, which is looking to find a way to control outbreaks of influenza in a community, and it offers flu vaccinations for the children at no charge. The idea behind this unique study is simple: to find if vaccinating a majority of the school-age children in a community significantly reduces the spread of influenza in that area.

“Children often bring the flu home and infect other family members,” said Dr. Manjusha Gaglani, the principal local investigator of the study and associate professor of Pediatric Infectious Disease at Scott & White. “When the flu strikes a family the children miss school, and parents may miss work to care for the child, or may contract the flu themselves.”

Students from the seven area school districts of Academy, Temple, Belton, Troy, Rogers, Salado and Holland can participate in this study and receive flu vaccinations at no charge. Teams of research nurses will be visiting the elementary schools in the seven school districts. Parents can expect to see information and consent forms from the schools a week before the vaccination team is scheduled to be at the school. A schedule for the school vaccination days is available at http://stopflu.sw.org.

“We will be giving influenza vaccinations during school hours for parents’ convenience,” Dr. Gaglani said. “In return, we ask the parents help us by filling out a short questionnaire and send it back to us six weeks later.”

School districts will supply student and staff absenteeism statistics, as well as numbers of school nurse visits for flu-like illness by students, which will be used as part of the study.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza is responsible for about 36,000 deaths each year. Infection rates and medical complications with the flu are greatest among children and the elderly. Recovering from the flu often requires several days. One family member with the flu may pass the infection on to other family members.

This study, begun in 1998, is the first of its kind to investigate whether a large-scale immunization can aid in controlling epidemic influenza

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