Limit to the cure

President Obama declared H1N1 swine flu a "national emergency."

On Saturday, the White House released a statement increasing the status to allow greater disbursements of the vaccine on a case-by-case basis.

Forty-six states have widespread cases of the H1N1 flu they are trying to service, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site.

The Payne County Health Department has limited quantities of the H1N1 vaccine and none of the regular flu vaccine, said Lisa Cundiff, assistant administrator with the Payne County Health Department.

"All of the vaccine manufacturers pulled off of making the regular seasonal vaccine about a month ago," Cundiff said. "In doing so, we have completely run out of the seasonal and have no idea when we will be getting our next shipment."

The little H1N1 vaccine they have is designated for specific, high-risk groups that have to meet certain criteria, Cundiff said.

Front-line medical workers with acute illness, pregnant women, healthy 2- to 18-year-olds, sick 6-month to 18-year-olds and the elderly are all high risk.

The Stillwater Medical Center has the same requirements for the vaccines but because of the shortage has had to cancel certain events, said Shyla Eggers, director of public relations for Stillwater Medical Center.

Stillwater Medical Center and the Payne County Health Department's annual Drive Thru Flu Shot Event, originally scheduled for Thursday, was canceled.

"We are all extremely disappointed because this is something that we feel strongly about doing for the community," Eggers said.

Annette O'Connor, Payne County Health Department administrative director, said the it expects another shipment of vaccines to come in, hopefully within the next couple of weeks.

OSU is no exception to this shortage.

Although OSU is designated as an H1N1 site for vaccination, it has only received extremely limited quantity of the vaccine so far and is out at the moment, said Steve Rogers, director of University Health Services.

OSU Health Services gave several students vaccinations in the five-week period before the seasonal vaccine shortage.

"Now, we have no idea when we are supposed to get more in," Rogers said.

OSU is a "hot spot" for H1N1 not because of the proximity of the students but because the disease seems to hit those 25 years and younger and 65 years and older, Rogers said.

The H1N1 pandemic isn't just happening in the United States. The World Health Organization reported Friday there have been 414,000 laboratory confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu strain that have contributed to nearly 5,000 deaths worldwide in 2009.