By By Chandler Myers
Some children in Escambia County School System are a little less prone to the H1N1 strain of flu that has plagued the country now that they have been given the flu mist vaccine.
A staff of nurses with the Escambia County Department of Health visited Rachel Patterson, A.C. Moore, Huxford and Brewton elementary schools Thursday morning to administer the vaccine to students from kindergarten through third grade who returned signed parental consent forms.
Susan Smith, lead nurse with the Escambia County School System, said the trips to each school went well.
"Everything went really smooth," she said. "We has a great staff from the health department that handled everything great. Mr. Hines (Billy) spoke with me and he was pleased with how everything went."
More than 400 students received the voluntary vaccine with some that were turned away for medical reasons and others that refused to take the vaccine.
Smith said that children who did not receive the vaccine were given a letter to take home to their parents informing them.
"We had a few that were upset, so they weren't given the vaccine," she said. "We had others who could not receive it due to medical reasons, so we wanted the parents to know why they did not get the vaccine, and also to let them know that it is available at the health department."
Smith said he expects health officials to return to the schools for the follow-up clinic sometime in January.
For more information about the vaccine contact the Escambia County Health Department at 368-9188.
Publisher Adam Prestridge contributed to this story.