Media General News Service As of yesterday, patients, employees and visitors no longer are allowed to smoke on the property of the University of Virginia Medical Center. As part of the hospital’s effort to transition to a smoke-free environment, people no longer may smoke in front of the hospital’s entrance, outside the primary-care center, at the medical center’s outpatient clinics, in the parking garages and at the Elson Student Health Center.

As Virginia prepares to receive its first doses of swine-flu vaccine, the death of another state resident infected with the virus is a reminder that influenza can be deadly. “It’s very unfortunate and sad when anybody dies of an infectious disease,“ said Dr. Karen Remley, Virginia health commissioner, yesterday in an online video chat on TimesDispatch.com.

A walk for food-allergy awareness, Moving Toward a Cure in Richmond, will be held Saturday at the Snag-a-Job Pavilion in Innsbrook in Henrico County. Similar events are being held nationwide in 35 cities in connection with the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network to increase knowledge about food allergies and to raise money for research and education.

MARIA HOWARDFitness Put on your running shoes, kids. Richmond is getting its first timed road race for the young set. The C&F Bank Short Pump Mile will be staged next Sunday starting at 7:45 a.m. behind Short Pump Town Center. The 1-mile event will begin near American Family Fitness and end near the mall’s food court. Children ages 6 through 18 will be divvied up into heats according to age. Awards will be given for the best times.

Q:Why aren’t people 65 and over on the priority list for swine-flu vaccine? TAMMIE
SMITH
It seems to me an aspect of the rationing that’s talked about in health-care reform. Answer: The H1N1 swine flu is unusual in that it seems to be making younger people sick more often, unlike regular seasonal flu, which strikes the very young and older people more often.

The state’s health and education agencies have produced online videos to help inform parents and educators about how to prevent the spread of the highly contagious H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu. The Virginia Department of Education, in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Health, has released “H1N1 for Parents” and “H1N1 for Educators.“

Children ages 10 to 17 appear to need just one dose of the new swine-flu vaccine, but younger children probably will need two, federal health officials reported yesterday. “Overall, this is very good news for the vaccination program, both in regard to supply of the vaccine as well as its potential efficacy,“ said Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Unmarried childbearing and health-care costs Q:You recently wrote about health-care inequities. Why didn’t you include, for instance, that the reason people in the Richmond area don’t have money to pay for health care is the (high) illegitimacy rate. The fathers aren’t around. They could be buying health insurance for the babies they father.

Schools in Hanover and King William counties are dealing with clusters of cases of flulike illness while health officials map out plans to vaccinate thousands of children. “We are having some illness here,“ said Mark Russell Jones, superintendent of King William schools. He said administrators are aware of about 10 students absent because of flulike illness at the county primary school, which has about 600 students.

A Varina District town meeting on infant mortality and H1N1 swine flu is scheduled Monday at 7 p.m. at Henrico Theatre, 305 E. Nine Mile Road. Health officials will be available to answer questions.
The Medical Reserve Corps in the Chesterfield, Powhatan and Colonial Heights communities is looking for volunteers to help with school flu-vaccine efforts. Volunteers such as licensed nurses, doctors and pharmacists are needed but also support people with clerical, data-management and logistical skills.

Ukrop’s Super Markets Tuesday—Oxbridge Square, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Wednesday—Gayton Crossing, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Thursday—Harbour Pointe, 4 to 8 p.m.; Friday—Stratford Hills, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Shots are free for customers with Medicare Part B. Customers not using health insurance: $25 with the UVC card. For details, call the flu hot line at (804) 340-3015 or visit http://www.ukrops.com.

Fewer infants died in Richmond last year than the previous year, and city health officials credit a comprehensive effort involving multiple city agencies and community partners. The infant-mortality rate was 10.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2008, a decline from a rate of 12.4 deaths per 1,000 in 2007. In actual numbers, there were 36 infant deaths in 2008, compared with 41 in 2007.

College students are being told to get a “flu buddy” to bring them food if they get sick and can’t leave their dorm rooms. Pregnant women are being urged to be the first in line to get H1N1 swine-flu vaccine. Working parents are anxiously counting their remaining sick days in case they have to stay home with a sick child. Flu is unpredictable, so it’s hard to say just how bad this fall will be with seasonal-flu and swine-flu strains circulating.

For the first time in as long as state officials can recall, every school district in Virginia is being asked to report daily absenteeism among students and faculty to the state Health Department in an attempt to track flu patterns better. The policy is part of the broad public health effort to try to manage flu cases as the state’s 1.2 million public school students pack hallways, gyms, cafeterias and classrooms.

CLASSES Smoking Cessation, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 22 and 29 at 4 p.m., Thomas Johns Cancer Hospital, CJW Medical Center (Johnston-Willis), Conference Room B, 1401 Johnston-Willis Drive. The cost is $20, which is refunded if all four sessions are completed. Details: Susan Stafford, (804) 330-2323.  MEETINGS The Autism Society, Central Virginia, 10 a.m. River Road United Methodist Church, 8800 River Road. Meetings are as follows: Wednesday, 10 a.m. Parents of Children (preschool-18) with Asperger’s syndrome; Friday, 7 p.m. chapter meeting: Megan Cummins, board certified music therapist discusses Benefits of Music Therapy for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders; Sept. 14, 7 p.m. Parents of Children (preschool-18) with Asperger’s syndrome; Sept. 17, 10 a.m. Biomedical Interest Group; Sept. 26, Autism Spectrum Disorders for Families of Children Newly Identified, three-hour workshop; Sept. 28, 7 p.m., Parents of Adults with Asperger’s and Autism Spectrum Disorders Interest Group. Details: (804) 257-0192 or e-mail .