By By SPIROS GALLOS / Niles Daily Star
NILES - For many who can't get the flu shot vaccine due to a nation-wide shortage, there is an alternative in the form of FluMist, a nasal flu vaccine.
Unfortunately, due to the high cost of the nasal flu vaccine and its limited use, many doctors and health organizations are shying away from ordering the vaccine.
While flu vaccine isn't generally available, especially for those not in the Center for Disease Control's designated high-risk groups, there are ways to limit exposure and stay healthy.
Patsy Mead, a nurse at the office of Dr. Florentino A. Aquino, 24 N. St. Joseph Ave., said the two most common ways to prevent getting ill are for individuals to wash their hands often and to avoid crowded areas.
Dr. Linda Stanley, of Linda Stanley MD Family Practice, 9 St. Joseph Ave., offered more tips for individuals who won't get the chance to get vaccinated this year.
Individuals should cover their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing to avoid spreading the flu through the air. Stanley also suggested using sanitized hand wipes or a hand sanitizing lotion whenever possible, and to use an alcohol-based cleaner on all surfaces.
FluMist is the first live virus flu vaccine to be approved for use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration.
The strains in the vaccine are modified so they don't grow efficiently at normal body temperature, but replicate enough to produce immunity.
Because it contains live strains of the virus, the nasal flu vaccine should only be administered to healthy individuals between the ages of five and 49 years old.
The limited use of the nasal vaccine is one reason why doctors tend to shy away from the vaccine.
Stanley said price is the other main factor for why doctors have not ordered the nasal flu vaccine. The nasal vaccine costs approximately two to three times more than the flu shot vaccine.
Stanley was one of the "lucky" doctors who ordered the flu shot vaccine from Aventis Pasteur, Inc., a major flu vaccine producer.
Many doctors and health organizations did not receive the doses of the vaccine they ordered after British regulators shut down a major flu vaccine producer, Chiron Corp.
Although she received the ordered doses, Stanley had ordered her supply based on previous usage of the vaccine. Unfortunately, Stanley's supplies are exhausted.
The 230 doses Stanley ordered did not last long after it was discovered the Berrien County Health Department did not receive a majority of its ordered doses, she said.
Stanley said while she couldn't help everyone who needed the vaccine, she was able to help most of the patients who came to her office.
Despite the need for more vaccine, Stanley said the risks involved for individual doctors in ordering the vaccine cause many to order only what they need.
The flu vaccine must be kept at a constant temperature while in storage, otherwise the vaccine could be lost.
Stanley said despite the risks involved in ordering vaccine doses, many doctors order the vaccine because of patient needs.