Limestone Central Elementary School student Kerigan Swofford winces as a state health official gives her a dose of the H1N1 (Swine Flu) vaccine during a clinic sponsored by the Department of Health and Environmental Control and the Cherokee County School District. A dozen schools hosted vaccination centers this week with hundreds of students and school district employees being given the vaccine. (Ledger photo / JOE L. HUGHES II) Some students laughed, while others kicked and screamed at the sight of a needle known to be intended for them.

A few parents also were pushed to the brink of tears, never wanting to see their children frightened or uncomfortable.

In the end, however, all of them knew the injection was a necessary precaution against an ailment the presence of which cannot be felt sometimes until it is too late.

Trying to get to persons most at risk of acquiring the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus, students and staffs at nearly a dozen local schools were given doses of the H1N1 vaccine at clinics offered by state Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and the Cherokee County School District.

School district and state health officials began a three-day tour Wednesday at Mary Bramlett, Alma, Luther Vaughan and Limestone Central elementary schools, providing free doses of the vaccine. Following suit Thursday was B.D. Lee, Northwest, and Grassy Pond elementary schools.

Four local schools — Corinth, Draytonville, Goucher and Blacksburg elementary schools, as well as Blacksburg Primary School — will serve as vaccination centers today.

Schools sent letters home with students earlier this month seeking parents’ permission before scheduling vaccine clinics with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

“When we sent out the letters, we knew there would be families that didn’t want to allow their children to receive the (H1N1) vaccine,” said school district health coordinator Donna Peeler. “But there was a fair amount of parents who believed it was a good idea for their child to be given the vaccine.”

Peeler said the school district acted swiftly to schedule vaccination centers at county elementary and primary schools, with the majority of students falling into the age group classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health officials of having a “high-risk” of acquiring the disease.

Following guidelines from the CDC, DHEC has targeted its limited vaccine supplies toward children under the age of 9, young adults ages 18-24 and adults ages 25-64 with health conditions that put them at a higher risk of medical complications from flu. Pregnant women as well as health care and emergency medical personnel are also on the priority list.

Like other flu viruses, H1N1 spreads from person to person through coughing, sneezing and sometimes through touching objects contaminated with the virus.

Signs of the virus include fatigue, fever, sore throat, muscle aches, chills, coughing and sneezing. Some flu victims might also have diarrhea and vomiting.

In most cases, people feel better within a week. However, there have been isolated cases of pneumonia or other serious illnesses among those acquiring the disease, requiring hospitalization and sometimes resulting in death.

According to Peeler, her office has been bombarded with questions in regard to the H1N1 virus, most concerning the safety of the vaccine.

“(Safety) definitely was the main issue, but it wasn’t surprising people would have those types of questions,” Peeler said. “When we sent out information about H1N1 and our plans to have vaccination centers, we sent out a newsletter offering answers to frequently asked questions and numbers they could call, including that of DHEC.”

According to DHEC, the H1N1 vaccine, “like any medicine, could cause a serious problem, such as a severe allergic reaction,” but the risk of any vaccine doing serious harm or resulting in death is extremely small, the agency said.

“The virus in inactivated 2009 H1N1 vaccine has been killed, so you cannot get influenza from the vaccine,” according to a DHEC newsletter distributed last month.

Students received an inactivated vaccine injected into the muscle similar to the annual flu shot. Those younger than age 9 will receive a second dose of the vaccine within the next three weeks, Peeler said.

Teachers and other staff members were given the option of getting the injectable form of the vaccine or taking a nasal spray variety made with live, weakened viruses that cannot grow at normal body temperature.