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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Friday, December 19,2003
No more flu vaccine in 2003 for county health department
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
The Forsyth County Health
Department is not expected to
receive any more doses of the
flu vaccine this year as a par
ticularly vicious strain of the
illness spreads through
schools and workplaces across
the nation.
Forsyth County public
health officials have given
about 5,000 flu shots so far
this season but ran out of their
last shipment last week. They
do not expect any more doses
to be delivered. The problem
is not unique to Forsyth.
The Georgia Division of
Public Health reported all 13
county health departments in
the agency’s district two in
North Georgia will be out of
the vaccine after Hall County
administers the last of its
available vaccines.
The county health depart
ment here received a marked
increase in calls from people
wanting the vaccine since the
flu swept through Texas and
Colorado earlier this year.
Demand led local health
departments to run through the
vaccine more quickly than
Deaths
Harry Phillip Paulk
Mr. Harry Phillip Paulk, 76,
of Cumming died Wednesday,
Dec. 17, 2003. Mr. Paulk, a
native of
Atlanta, was a
veteran of
World War 11,
having received
VETERAN
an honorable discharge. He
had retired from the Army
Corps of Engineers after 30
years of service.
Survivors include his wife
of 53 years, Mary Paulk of
Cumming; daughter and son
in-law, Dale and Alan Bridges
of Alpharetta; grandchildren,
Alexander and Jennifer
Bridges of Alpharetta; brothers
and sisters-in-law, Dr. Vernon
and Mariam Paulk of
McDonough, Dr. Gerald and
Helen Paulk of Barnwell, S.C.;
nieces, nephews and other rela
tives also survive.
Funeral services will be
Saturday, Dec. 20, at 11 a.m. at
the Ingram Funeral Home
Chapel. Interment will follow
in the Westview Cemetery.
The family will receive
friends Friday, Dec. 19, from
4-8 p.m.
Ingram Funeral Home is in
charge of the arrangements.
Forsyth County News
December 19, 2003
Clyde Thompson
Mrs. Clyde Thompson, 96,
of Sautee died Tuesday, Dec.
16, 2003. Mrs. Thompson was
a member of Shady Grove
Church. She was preceded in
death by her husband, Rafe
Thompson; son, James E.
Thompson.
Survivors include her sons
and daughters-in-law, Jerry
Thompson of Sautee, Charles
and Martha Thompson of
Riverdale, Lamar Thompson,
Eugene and Fran Thompson,
all of Clarksville, Johnny and
Dot Thompson of Sautee,
Doug (Mack) and Lana
Thompson of Cumming;
brother and sister-in-law, Ford
and Jeanette Samples of Sandy
Springs; several grandchildren,
great-grandchildren and great
great-grandchildren, nieces,
nephews and other relatives
also survive.
Funeral services will be
Friday, Dec. 19, at 11 a.m. at
the Ingram Funeral Home
Chapel with the Rev. Dee
Dillin officiating. Interment
will follow in the Bethel
Baptist Church Cemetery.
Ingram Funeral Home is in
charge of the arrangements.
Forsyth County News
December 19, 2003
FIRST CALL
FOR'HFLP
770-781-HELP
(4357)
Emergency help line for
Forsyth County.
Everything you wanted to know about the flu (but didn't know who to ask)
• Influenza (commonly called “the flu”) longer than seven days. Pregnant women and children
is a contagious respiratory illness between six months and 23 months of
caused by influenza viruses. Infection Avoiding the flu age also are at increased risk from flu
with influenza viruses can result in • Vaccination: The single best way to complications.
severe illness and life-threatening bom- prevent the flu is to get vaccinated
plications. An estimated 10 percent to each fall. In the absence of vaccine, Possible complications
20 percent of U.S. residents get the flu however, there are other ways to pro- • Some of the complications caused by
each year: an average of 114,000 peo- ted against flu. flu include bacterial pneumonia, dehy-
ple are hospitalized for flu-related com- dration, and worsening of chronic med-
plications and 36,000 Americans die Antiviral medications: leal conditions, such as congestive
each year from complications of flu. • Three antiviral drugs (amantadine, heart failure, asthma, or diabetes.
rimantadine, and oseltamivir) are Children may get sinus problems and
Symptoms approved and commercially available ear infections.
• Fever (usually high), headache, for use in preventing flu. All of these
extreme fatigue, dry cough, sore medications are prescription drugs, What to do if you get sick this flu
throat, runny or stuffy nose, and mus- and a doctor should be consulted season
cle aches. Gastrointestinal symptoms, before the drugs are used for prevent- •If you develop the flu, it is advisable
such as nausea, vomiting, and diar- ing the flu. to get plenty of rest, drink a lot of liq-
rhea, are much more common among uids, and avoid using alcohol and
children than adults. Other habits for good health tobacco. Also, you can take medica-
• Avoid coming into close contact with tions to relieve the symptoms of flu (but
How it spreads people who have the flu, regularly never give aspirin to children or
• Influenza viruses are spread when a wash hands and attempt to avoid teenagers who have flu-like symptoms
person who has the flu coughs, touching your eyes, mouth and nose - and particularly fever - without first
sneezes, or speaks and spreads the with your hands. speaking to your doctor.) If, however,
virus into the air, and other people your flu symptoms are unusually
inhale the virus. When these viruses Diagnosing the flu severe (for example, if you are having
enter the nose, throat, or lungs of a • Tests are available that can deter- trouble breathing), you should consult
person, they begin to multiply, causing mine if you have the flu as long as you your health-care provider right away. If
symptoms of the flu. The viruses can are tested within the first two or three you are at special risk from complica-
also be spread when a person touches days after your symptoms begin. In tions of flu, you should consult your
a surface with flu viruses on it (for addition, a doctor's examination may health-care provider when your flu
example, a door handle) and then be needed to determine whether a symptoms begin. This includes people
touches his or her nose or mouth.A person has another infection that is a 65 years or older, people with chronic
person who is sick with the flu can complication of the flu. medical conditions, pregnant women,
spread viruses - that means they are or children. Your doctor may choose to
contagious. Adults may be contagious High risk groups use certain antiviral drugs to treat the
from one day before developing symp- • This group includes people age 65 flu.
toms to up to seven days after getting years and older and people of any age Source: Centers for Disease Prevention and
sick. Children can be contagious for with chronic medical conditions. Control
usual.
“They’ve had a lot of calls
from people still wanting the
vaccine, but, unfortunately,
Forsyth and other counties in
the district are out of the vac
cine,” said Dave Palmer,
director of division two, dur
ing a telephone interview on
Friday afternoon. *
Northside Hospital Forsyth
is among the many hospitals
not offering vaccines to the
general public. The local hos
pital has a “very limited”
number of doses on hand for
those who are at high risk for
complications from the flu,
said hospital spokesman Russ
Davis.
Private doctors are running
out of the vaccine, too.
Cumming Family Medicine
went through its last flu shots
FEES from 1A
Garrett and came to a compro
mise.
Pape said while the compro
mise was fair, businesses in
general already support the tax
digest at higher levels than resi
dential developments.
“I think [the commissioners]
did a pretty good job to try and
get the best compromise from
all sides,” Pape said.
“We obviously would have
preferred not to have any impact
fees,” he said. “The tax base that
a commercial development cre
ates will typically more than
pay for itself.”
John Decker, of the industri
al development company
Childress Klein, agreed.
“I’d rather not have to pay
anything,” Decker said, adding
the charge of 5 cents for every
square foot of heated industrial
business floor space is equi
table.
Please join us for our (a 4
Christmas Eve Services! )
1 \ Wednesday, December 24th-Christmas Eve A '
v...Z|>:oopm-Family Christmas Candlelight/Communion Service."
? A This service will be geared to the children.
•.A...-'" 7:oopm-Candlelight/Communion Worship Service
Choral Music provided by the Adult choir
9:oopm-Candlelight/Communion
Worship Service
With Special Music Jyl" /'
Lord of Life Lutheran Church
5390 McGinnis Ferry Read GFfcjb
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1 REACH out II I /f
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last week and is waiting to see
if it can obtain another batch,
said Dr. Jeevana K. Krishna.
Earlier this week, the
office received about 70
inhalers containing the vac
cine. Unlike the flu shot, the
inhaler only can be used by
those ages 5 to 49. It also
costs significantly more than
the flu shot at S7O per dose.
It will be tough to find a
flu shot anywhere. The two
largest domestic producers of
the vaccine have exhausted all
80 million of their doses.
During an interview with the
media last week, federal
Health Secretary Tommy
Thompson said the United
States recently purchased
100,000 adult doses of the
vaccine from Aventis Pasteur.
Georgia received about 3,000
The business community as
a whole challenged the impact
fee ordinance when it was first
introduced last April because it
categorized all businesses as
“non-residential” and did not
base the fees on the type of
business.
The ordinance was revised,
setting different fees for new
retail, industry and office devel
opments. It was a change
Owens said was much appreci-
Help a child
and Imve some fun. $ 10 jEgSPi
Our activity book with (D is a natural for oil kids,
and benefits Ronald McDonald House.
Maid’s 1$
■ssfisr
doses from that shipment and
is in the process of distribut
ing the vaccine. The federal
government has purchased
another 150,000 pediatric
doses, scheduled to arrive in
January, Thompson said.
Cases of the flu have
appeared in all 50 states. The
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention in Atlanta is
monitoring the flu epidemic
and earlier this week designat
ed Georgia as having a “wide
spread” flu problem. Georgia
joins 26 other states in the cat
egory.
Children, the elderly and
pregnant women are the most
vulnerable to the flu. About 20
children nationwide have died
this year from flu related
problems. In areas with wide
spread cases, schools have
ated.
The charge per square foot
of heated floor space on new
office developments is 9 cents.
Impact fees on new homes
are based on the size of the
house and fund library and
parks and-recreation infrastruc
ture improvements and well as
those in public safety.
The charge for new resi
dences is 52 cents per square
foot of heated floor space.
shut down and hospitals are
overflowing with patients
complaining of headaches,
stuffy noses, muscle pains and
a dry cough.
In Forsyth County, hospital
officials say they have a seen a
recent increase in the number
of patients presenting flu
symptoms but nothing as per
vasive as reported elsewhere.
Northeast Regional
Medical Center in Gainesville
on Tuesday restricted visita
tion to its pediatric and obste
trician units in an attempt to
guard young patients against
the infection. However,
Northside Hospital in Sandy
Springs, where many Forsyth
County mothers opt to deliver
their babies, has not restricted
visitation to any of its patients
due to the flu.
Fibromyalgia?
If you suffer from
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Forsyth County News
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J
USPS 205-540
Veterans Memorial Blvd., Cumming, Georgia 30040
Phone: 770-887-3126 Fax: 770-889-6017
' Internet Address: www.forsythnews.com
e Publisher DENNIS STOCKTON
General Manager NORMAN BAGGS
Editor TOM SPIGOLON
Advertising Director MARTI BARNES
Circulation Director PHIL JONES *
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J
... unfortunately,
Forsyth and
other counties
in the district
are out of the
vaccine.
Dave Palmer
Director of division
two, Georgia
Department of
Public Health
The federal government is
attempting to allocate remain
ing vaccines the best
defense against the flu in
order to protect those most
vulnerable.
“The CDC today has
released recommendations on
how vaccines should be used
based on what has been
learned to date about the sup
plies. Some areas of some
states have an extra amount.
Others are very scarce. We
want to make sure that it’s
redistributed wherever we
possibly can,” Thompson said
Friday.
While this year’s flu strain
arrived early and by all indica
tions is more virulent than in
recent years, CDC Director
Julie Gerberding said most
Americans will be able to
fight off even this year’s flu.
“It’s important to remem
ber that for healthy people, for
the vast majority of us,
influenza is an annoying ill
ness, it’s certainly not fun, but
it’s something that we will
recover from with common
sense, self care,” she said in a
prepared statement. “It’s not
necessary to go to the emer
gency room or to visit a physi
cian simply because you have
the flu. The treatment is good
old-fashioned rest, fluids and
the over-the-counter medica
tions that we typically use to
treat symptoms.”
Another way to combat the
flu is to be considerate of
neighbors and co-workers by
staying home after becoming
sick, according to health offi
cials.
For updates on this year’s
flu and vaccine information,
visit www.cdc.gov.
reveals how to get relief
as fast as humanly pos
sible without drugs,
shots or surgery, call
toll-free 24-hour
recorded message at
1-888-895-7484.