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Talawanda students turn out for H1N1 vaccine

Meagan Engle Six-month-old Wyatt French gets an H1N1 vaccination shot Tuesday, Nov. 17.

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By Meagan Engle, Staff Writer 7:00 PM Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Emily Pateman had her children vaccinated against H1N1 flu this week after the flu hit her family earlier this year.

Pateman’s oldest son, 9-year-old Eli, was diagnosed with Influenza A – the family of flu that includes the H1N1 virus – after a neighborhood child was hospitalized with confirmed H1N1 flu.

Pateman said Eli, who has asthma, is usually highly active, but spent 14 hours in bed before being diagnosed.

“It was terrifying because people die from stuff like that,” she said. “It had never hit so close to home.”

Pateman brought three of her children ages 9 to 4 to receive the vaccination Tuesday, Nov. 17, at Talawanda Middle School.

She waited just more than an hour for the vaccination among hundreds of other local families who turned out for the clinic, which offered the vaccine in either a shot or nasal mist to students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade.

“I feel like it’s better safe than sorry. I’m still a little bit terrified,” Pateman said.

“We’ve gone without getting different flu shots in the past and they always got sick,” she said.

Students and their families filled the front of the middle school as they waited with orange wrist bands for their number to come up. A line stretched around into the commons area, where students were vaccinated.

Amy Samples waited just under an hour with her 8-year-old son for the vaccination.

“It’s better to have your child vaccinated than not,” she said after her third-grade son received the nasal mist. “I think the repercussions are a lot more to not do anything.”

Students in grades six through 12 will get their chance to receive the vaccine after the Thanksgiving break, according to the district.

Contact this reporter at (513) 523-4139 or mengle@coxohio.com.

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