Posted: 11/8/05
No county flu clinics; obtaining vaccines difficult
Houston County Public Health Director Linda Grupa announced at last weekís board meeting that there would be no county-sponsored flu vaccine clinics this year.
She said this was due in part to difficulty obtaining vaccines, and also because of the low turnout of citizens last year. She encouraged people to get shots at their medical clinics.
ìPersonally, Iím disappointed that we canít offer this important service to our county colleagues and the community,î Grupa wrote in a memo to the board. ìI hope we have the opportunity to offer this next fall.î
Grupa and county commissioners also discussed the possibility of Avian flu spreading to people and causing a flu pandemic.
A pandemic would overwhelm the county support system, Grupa said, because the flu has a mortality rate of 52 percent and spreads very rapidly. ìIt does overwhelm the human system pretty darn fast,î she said. But Avian flu has not spread from human to human, she said.
In the meantime she reminded people to wash their hands, isolate their kids if they get sick, and keep supplies from chicken soup to antihistamine at home.
Highway department approvals
In other county board business, the board approved three recommendations by engineer Tracey Von Bargen.
ï Commissioners approved an addition of $1,148.50 to the County Road 24 bridge project to add a surface finish to the concrete railing to make it more attractive.
ï They approved a final estimate for AAA Striping of $64,000.
ï They approved a grant from the Minnesota State Transportation Fund of $121,680 for a bridge over Riceford Creek on Rooster Valley Road in Black Hammer Township.
Von Bargen noted that there are three bridge projects going on in the county now, and there are only two bridge inspectors. That fact is causing some stress in the department, he said. The other two bridges are on County Roads 4 and 249 in the Freeburg area.
Caledonia Argus
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