Influenza Issues
H1N1 Influenza Vaccine Campaign During Pandemic Bypassed Many U.S. Jails
By
Jan 6, 2012 - 4:52:42 PM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - ATLANTA—Fifty-five percent of U.S. jails (facilities that house persons sentenced to one year or less) did not receive any H1N1 vaccine in the 2009-2010 pandemic and thus were excluded from the national vaccine campaign, according to a study reported in the Jan. 6 MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report). First shipments of vaccine - technically known as A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine - to jails also were delayed compared to delivery of vaccine to prisons.

In contrast, the study found that only 14 percent of federal prisons and 11 percent of non-federal prisons did not receive the vaccine. U.S. institutions housing inmates sentenced to more than one year are referred to as prisons.

The findings were derived from a survey conducted between July and November 2010 using a representative sample of U.S. prisons and jails. The surveyors asked if and when the facilities received H1N1 vaccine during the 2009-2010 outbreak. The research team included epidemiologists at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University; the National Commission on Correctional Health Care in Chicago, Illinois; and Correctional Medical Services in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Interact with Emory Health Sciences:
http://bit.ly/emoryhealthscisocial

###

For advertising and promotion on HealthNewsDigest.com please contact Mike McCurdy: tvmike13@HealthNewsDigest.com or 877-634-9180
HealthNewsDigest.com is syndicated worldwide and has over 7,000 journalists as subscribers.

© Copyright by HealthNewsDigest.com