Shots shoo off sickness

Art Nadler

Wednesday, Oct. 16, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

RITA Schain never had a flu shot in her life. But this year, things are going to be different.

"I couldn't even get out of bed," Schain, 35, says of last year's flu season. "I couldn't talk. It didn't feel like Christmas. I'm not going through that again."

As nurse Marianne Williams loads the influenza serum into a syringe, Schain nervously shifts in a chair, her eyes pensively watching the liquid rise.

"How many minutes? How many seconds will it take?" Schain says.

"Five seconds," Williams says.

"That's too long."

"Then I'll do it in two seconds."

"Can I hold your arm?" Schain says.

Williams nods yes, and the frightened Schain grabs on.

As the needle pierces her arm, Schain shrieks.

And then it's over.

"I feel proud now," a smiling Schain says, standing up.

Schain's friend, Linda Fenley, 43, is next. This is her first time, too. When her son gets home from school, she says she plans for him to get a flu shot also.

"Douglas always gets a cold," Fenley said of her school-age son. "They say there's a terrible strain (of influenza) coming, and we want to be protected."

Fenley is right. By December, health officials expect three viruses to hit: A/Texas; A/Nanchang, a variation of A/Wuhan; and B/Harbin, a variation of B/Beijing.

Williams is a staff nurse for Maxim Healthcare Services, a Las Vegas company providing influenza, pneumonia and tetanus/diphtheria immunizations. Maxim booths will be set up through Nov. 30 on a rotating basis at Smith's and Albertson's grocery stores, Target department stores and Sav-on pharmacies.

A flu shot costs $10 and pneumonia and tetanus/diphtheria are $20 each. Medicare pays for them fully.

"This prick is a hell of a lot better than laying in bed," Doug Colburn, 32, says of his shot. "Every year, it gets worse and worse with these new strains of flu. It seems if I get this shot, I don't get the flu."

"My doctor said I should always get a flu shot," Donald Frank, 70, says. "I've been getting them for 15 years."

Alice Costello, immunization supervisor with the Clark County Health District, said this year's flu season is expected to last through February.

She doesn't recommend that children get flu shots because their immune systems build up antibodies quickly, Costello said. But for elderly people, the chronically ill or anyone who has undergone radiation treatment, she suggests they boost their immune systems with a flu shot.

"We don't use the live virus anymore, so people don't have to worry about getting sick usually," Costello said.

Williams also strongly recommends that people get pneumonia immunizations because they cover 23 different strains of the virus. The vaccination will usually last from 15 to 20 years, Costello said.

"We live in a town of public contact," said Guy Mongan, a licensed practical nurse and field supervisor for Maxim. "Everyone who lives with public contact should at least get a flu shot. It only takes about two weeks to build up antibodies."

Maxim Healthcare Services has booths set up from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

The health district is also offering all three immunizations for $7 each at satellite areas and the following locations from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.:

* Clark County Health District, 625 Shadow Lane.

* North Las Vegas Public Health Center, 3262 Civic Center Drive.

* Henderson Public Health Center, 129 W. Lake Mead Drive, Suite 10.

The Clark County Health District has immunized about 8,000 people since Oct. 7.

For more information, call the Clark County Health District at 383-1351.