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Community Corner

Health Department: Flu Season Not Over Yet

Free vaccines remain available from the county; 11 people have died from the flu in Montgomery County this flu season.

Montgomery County is approaching the end of one of the more severe flu seasons on record, but it's not over yet, said Mike Baysinger, deputy director of personal health services for the county health department.

"Pennsylvania is still considered [to have] regional [flu] activity," Baysinger said Thursday at a meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. "We've peaked early, but flu season is not over yet. Flu vaccines are still available [from the county]."

According to Baysinger, the county recorded 1,600 cases of influenza during this flu season. 287 people were hospitalized for influenza, and 11 people died. "It was almost as bad as when H1N1, swine flu, hit in 2009," Baysinger said. The county recorded about 2,200 cases of influenza that year.

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The county has distributed more than 23,000 free doses of vaccine at various locations and clinics since the beginning of the 2012-13 flu season, according to Ruth Cole, director of clinical services for the health department.

"It's free," said Board of Commissioners Chairman Josh Shapiro of the county's vaccination program. "So you can go to CVS or one of these other places and pay for your vaccine, or you can come to the health department or one of our various outposts and get a free vaccine for you and your children."

Find out what's happening in Bryn Mawr-Gladwynewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Board of Commissioners approved an agreement to purchase additional flu vaccine from Sanofi Pasteur for $41,923.

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