Swine flu seen as declining in central Va.

Swine-flu cases appear to be declining in central Virginia, though the supply of H1N1 vaccine still is lagging behind desired levels.

School absenteeism is back to normal levels in the counties of Charles City, Goochland, Hanover and New Kent, a public-health spokesman said yesterday. Absenteeism is declining in Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield and Henrico, while hospital emergency rooms report fewer visits by people with flulike illnesses.

"Overall, everybody would be a lot happier if we'd received the vaccine two months ago," said Dr. William R. Nelson, speaking for the Virginia Health Department's Central Region health districts.

"I know people are frustrated," Nelson, the Chesterfield Health District director, said about the slow pace of vaccinations. "It's not sitting on the shelf, I guarantee you that."

School-inoculation clinics will be resuming this week in Chesterfield, Powhatan County and Colonial Heights, he said.

The amount of H1N1 vaccine sent to Virginia is less than anticipated because of manufacturing delays, the state Health Department said.

But "the vaccine is starting to come in in more predictable amounts, and faster" than it had been, Nelson said. So far the state has been allocated more than 800,000 doses. Virginia has more than 7.7 million residents.

"For the last three weeks," Nelson said, " the estimated allocations [of vaccine] for Virginia turned out to be correct."

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in charge of the national vaccine-allocation program.

Priority for vaccination against the potentially fatal flu is going to pregnant women, people living with or caring for children younger than 6 months old, health-care and emergency medical services workers, people 6 months-24 years old, and people ages 25-64 with underlying medical conditions.

Contact Peter Bacqué at (804) 649-6813 or .