~ The Daily Hi-Lites ~

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Hagerman Fossil Beds Visitor Center Closures

The Visitor Center is closed every Tuesday and Wednesday until May.

For more information call (208) 933-4127 or visit www.nps.gov/hafo.

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CDHD Has Flu Vaccine for Children

The Central District Health Department (CDHD) has seasonal flu vaccine for children and is ready to take appointments. Vaccine is available for children ages 6 months to 18 years. Vaccine is available in shot form and nasal mist.

Parents should call 327-7450 to make an appointment for their children. While the vaccine is free, administration fees apply and depend on the family’s insurance. Please bring insurance information to your appointment.

CDHD does not offer adult vaccination services, and that includes the flu vaccine. Adults should consult their health care providers or go to one of the many commercial flu vaccine outlets.

Because the flu is unpredictable, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends that all people 6 months of age and older receive the annual influenza vaccination. It is especially important for those in the following groups to get vaccinated because they are at high risk of serious flu complications or because they live with or care for people at high risk of developing flu-related complications:

· Pregnant women

· Children younger than 5, but especially those younger than 2

· People 65 years of age and older

· People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions including asthma, heart disease, diabetes, weakened immune systems and the morbidly obese

· People who live in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities

· Health care workers

Children aged 6 months to 8 years who did not receive the flu vaccine last year may need two doses of vaccine this year to be fully immunized.

This year’s vaccine contains the same three strains of virus as last year’s seasonal flu vaccine:

· An A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)–like virus,

· An A/Perth/16/2009 (H3N2)–like virus,

· And a B/Brisbane/60/2008–like virus.

The A/California strain is the same H1N1 virus that caused the 2009 flu pandemic. Even if you got the flu vaccine last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is still recommending vaccination this year as immunity tends to wane over time.

For more information about the flu and vaccinations visit the CDHD website at www.cdhd.idaho.gov.

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