A shot in time saves nine

DESPITE THE best efforts of doctors and public health officials to vaccinate vulnerable Americans, influenza kills about 36,000 people every year - almost as many as die in traffic accidents. This has led the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to include children up to age 19 among those who should get vaccinated in the late fall, before each flu season.

For the immunized children themselves, the chief benefit will be avoiding a week home from school. For society as a whole, though, the benefit can be much greater. While most of those who die of the flu are elderly or very young, studies have shown school-age children to be all-too effective transmitters of the virus. Vaccinating them in large numbers will significantly retard the spread of the flu virus throughout the population and spare their grandparents or infant siblings.

The state Department of Public Health hopes to see pilot vaccination projects begin in schools this fall. Officials should work aggressively to devise the best way to vaccinate children efficiently and economically.

Schools are a probable venue because of logistical complications particular to the flu vaccine. Not only is a new, customized vaccine required each year, but there is a window of just a few months to administer it. Arranging appointments at the pediatrician's office for the state's 1.5 million children between ages of 6 and 18 in such a short time would be a herculean task.

The state has purchased 800,000 vaccine doses this year, with 500,000 earmarked for children. Private organizations will probably purchase up to an additional 2 million doses. Researchers have developed a nasal spray version of the vaccine, but it is more expensive than an injection and cannot be used with asthmatic children.

This flu season, health officials should go to schools for a new lessson: what works best in vaccinating children against flu.