Oct 29, 2004  |  By: JOE CREA  | COMMENTS     

With a limited supply of flu vaccines this year and potential complications that can result from the vaccination, Whitman-Walker Clinic officials said that while all are a priority, only some HIV-positive patients will be able to receive a vaccine for influenza this year.

The clinic expects to receive some 350 doses of the vaccine by week’s end.

Clifton Roberson, a spokesperson for the D.C. Department of Health, said the vaccines were to be distributed on Wednesday at various hospitals and clinics in the D.C. area, including Whitman-Walker and Family & Medical Counseling Service, two of D.C.’s clinics that treat those living with HIV and AIDS.

Chip Lewis, a spokesperson for Whitman-Walker, said that HIV-positive clients would receive priority based on their T-cell counts. There are currently 2,500 individuals who are receiving medical care at the clinic.

Dr. Philippe Chiliade, Whitman-Walker’s medical director, said that based on conversations with the D.C. Department of Health, it is unlikely that there will be enough vaccines to treat all patients.

Chiliade said the clinic is still waiting to hear from the health departments of Prince George’s and Montgomery counties along with Northern Virginia to determine how many vaccines the clinic will receive from them.

Chiliade said individuals with T-cell counts below 100 who have uncontrolled viral loads won’t respond well to the vaccination and will not receive it.

However, an individual with fewer than 100 T-cells but stable viral loads will be offered the vaccine, Chiliade said. The vaccine will also be administered to those with T-cells between 100-200.

Those with T-cell counts below 100 who can’t receive the vaccination will likely be treated with non-vaccine medications to help ward off the flu, Chiliade said.

District may fine doctors
The D.C. Department of Health announced last week that it received 5,400 additional adult flu vaccines and is working with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention in Atlanta to obtain another 30,000 adult and children’s vaccines in early December.

The Department has already distributed 11,000 children’s vaccines.

Gregg A. Pane, acting director of the D.C. Department of Health, announced that the city was distributing vaccines through “a data-driven plan” providing the vaccines to area clinics, including Whitman-Walker and Family & Medical Counseling Service.

Pane issued an Emergency Rule on Oct. 15 that designated priority groups who are to receive flu vaccines. The rule imposes a penalty of $1,000 on any health care provider who violates the order.

Paul Feldman, public affairs director for the National Association of People with AIDS, criticized the U.S. government’s failure to get enough vaccinations and for not taking into account patients with HIV in the emergency plan for dealing with the flu season.

Terje Anderson, NAPWA’s executive director, took issue with Health Secretary Tommy Thompson for saying senior citizens take precedent over other populations.

“We shouldn’t push aside seniors but people with compromised immune systems are more susceptible to the flu than a healthy senior citizen where age is the only factor,” Feldman said.