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One Girl's Story Changes the Law Parents are used to vaccinating children for childhood diseases — but what about when it's time to go to college? Texas law now requires a vaccination for college students living in on-campus housing. Laurie Johnson reports. |
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New Website To Help Houstonians Make Sense Of The Flu The Houston Department of Health and Human Services this week launched a new website to keep people up to date on the latest information on the flu — both the seasonal and H1N1 varieties. As David Pitman reports, the site is tailored to meet the specific needs of the local community. |
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City Offers Free H1N1 Vaccinations at Area Schools The City of Houston Health Department is teaming up with Houston ISD and Alief ISD to offer free Swine Flu vaccinations this Saturday. Rod Rice reports the city is providing the vaccine and the necessary training. |
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Four thousand Swine Flu vaccinations will be given away for free tomorrow. Laurie Johnson has more on the Houston area clinics. |
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Flu Shot Supply being Replenished Almost a week after Harris County reported it had run out of the swine flu vaccine, city of Houston clinics are running low on the injectable shots. While the supply is dwindling, another shipment is expected to arrive before the end of the week. Pat Hernandez has more. |
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Houstonians Wait in Line for Flu Shots Thousands of Houstonians are finding themselves waiting in line to get a flu shot. Until now, a shortage of the H1N1 vaccine meant only children and women who are pregnant have been getting the shot. As Bill Stamps reports the city has more doses available, but getting one still takes time. |
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The swine flu outbreak is spreading but the production of the vaccine is not keeping up. That prompts President Barack Obama to declare a national emergency. Meanwhile, two Texas lawmakers came to Houston to hold a Congressional briefing on the H1N1 virus. They discussed the local, state and national response. Pat Hernandez has the story. |
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Should Children Get Swine Flu Vaccines? The swine flu vaccine is slowly making its way into area clinics and hospitals. Healthcare workers are among the first to receive the vaccine. But children will soon be able to get it as well — as they are one of the more vulnerable populations. Laurie Johnson reports. |
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Swine Flu vaccines are available this week. Most people will have the option of being vaccinated with a shot or with a nasal spray. But how do you know which is best for you? Bill Stamps went to the city health department for answers. |
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Keeping College Students Informed about the Flu College-age students are more vulnerable to swine flu than to regular winter flu. That's because they don't always see doctors or get regular vaccinations. Medical clinics at UH and Rice University are doing what they can to raise awareness about prevention of H1N1. Pat Hernandez has the story. |
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High Priority Groups First to Receive H1N1 Vaccine The H1N1 vaccine will start showing up in medical clinics in just a couple of weeks. But it won't immediately be available for everyone. Laurie Johnson has more. |
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Swine Flu Vaccine Acts a lot like Seasonal Flu Vaccine With the first shipments of the H1N1 vaccine due to begin arriving here in a couple of weeks, local health officials say they have some early feedback on how young people are responding to it. Jack Williams reports. |
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Children are considered to be some of the most vulnerable in the population to contract the H1N1 virus. Because of that — the group children at risk is reaching out to school administrators and child service providers to be on the front lines combating the swine flu. Laurie Johnson has more. |
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State health and emergency management officials co-host a series of regional conferences to discuss the outbreak of the H1N1 flu. One conference was held in the Houston area. Attendees discussed the three aspects of responding to the pandemic: preparedness, planning and purpose. Pat Hernandez has more. |
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Early Outbreak of Swine Flu A Very Real Possibility Here Local health officials are preparing for what they think could be an early outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus this fall. They say after last spring's outbreak of swine flu, the bug never really went away. Jack Williams reports. |
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With the potential for a major outbreak of swine flu in the months ahead school districts may have to decide if they should stay open or shut down. Rod Rice reports that HISD says the guidelines for closing have changed this year. |
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Houstonians Help Test Swine Flu Vaccine Clinical trials for swine flu vaccine are under way here in Houston. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have already started testing a vaccine in adults and are about to begin pediatric clinical trials. Laurie Johnson has more. |
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Houston Tests Swine Flu Vaccine Houston is selected as one of eight cities to test out a vaccine for the so-called swine flu. The H1N1 clinical trials will be conducted at Baylor College of Medicine. The goal is to get a useable vaccine into the hands of doctors by the time flu season is in full swing. Laurie Johnson reports. |
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Number of U.S. Swine Flu Cases Rises The number of swine flu cases and deaths in the United States continues to go up. The CDC announced today the number of U.S. deaths from the illness nearly doubled over the past week. As Laurie Johnson reports — health officials say people still need to be cautious about the spread of the illness. |
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Travis Elementary Closed Until Summer School The state and city health departments have requested that Travis Elementary remain closed for a period up to ten more days — so it will not re-open on Tuesday. School officials anticipate re-opening for summer school in June. |
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School Closings Due to Swine Flu The Houston Health Department says all Houston area schools can reopen Wednesday. Federal health officials are no longer recommending that schools close if students come down with swine flu. Some schools are choosing to open on Thursday. |
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The end of the school year isn't here yet, but thousands of children remain out of the classroom because of the swine flu risks on their campuses. And that means they either get shortchanged on teaching this year or get stuck in school into the summer. Laurie Johnson has more. |
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Swine Flu Coverage: Too Much or Not Enough? For most of this week, the Swine Flu has dominated both the national and local media. Is it getting too much attention or is all the coverage justified? At a news conference today, Houston Congressman Al Green said one thing he doesn't want is for people to panic. Bill Stamps has more. |
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The Houston Independent School District has closed three schools after one confirmed case and two suspected cases of swine flu were reported on the campuses. Harvard and Lyons Elementary and Hamilton Middle school are closed until further notice on the recommendation of the City of Houston Health Department. Laurie Johnson reports. |
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Houston Records First Swine Flu Death in U.S. Local health officials say they expect more confirmed cases of swine flu in the next few days after a young boy from Mexico became the first confirmed death related to the virus here in Houston. As Pat Hernandez reports, more samples from suspected cases of swine flu are being sent to the centers for disease control for testing. |
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Keeping Swine Flu in Perspective Health officials continue to monitor the outlook on swine flu and its spread between humans. But as Laurie Johnson reports, some experts say the potential impact of swine flu may not be much worse than your typical flu outbreak. |
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Officials Say No Swine Flu In Houston Area Local health officials are keeping a close watch on the swine flu situation. There are dozens of known cases in the United States, but all of the sick are said to be recovering and so far, only one person has needed to go to the hospital. Even so, local officials are following the situation closely. Bill Stamps has more. |
