As the volume of patients with type A influenza increases at hospitals around the county, the outlook for vaccinations remains less than optimistic.

Floyd County is slated to receive only 6,100 vaccines over the course of the flu season, unless recent national and state declarations to increase the efforts against the swine flu pandemic change that course.

And that number becomes even more startling when you take a closer look at the numbers.

Health care workers and school-age children account for more than 20,000 people alone in Floyd County.

In the past month, the county and the entire commonwealth, as well as nation, have seen a drastic jump in the number of type A cases in and out of emergency rooms. Many of those have been lab-confirmed, while those not sent off for further testing are still considered and treated as swine flu, considering more than 90 percent will likely be returned positive, medical professionals say.

The Floyd County Health Department last week proposed a shipment of some 200 vaccines, the amount allowed, according to Director Thursa Slone, based on population.

Those vaccines are then shipped to area hospitals and clinics, she said. The vaccines currently on hand at most locations are nasal vaccines. Injectable vaccines, which, unlike the nasal do not deliver a direct shot of the live virus when administered, are expected to arrive in the county by November.

However, infection control specialists are saying that hospitals will not receive these injectable forms of the vaccine until first all nasal vaccines at the location have been given out.

At this time, the nasal vaccine has only been indicated for healthy individuals between the ages of 2 and 49 years old.

Because of the supply and demand differences, health care professionals have been forced to stay focused on special subgroups, also referred to as high-risk groups, for their vaccination programs. Among these are women who are pregnant and those who already have a chronic illness.

According to the most recent figures, there are four lab-confirmed cases of swine flu in Floyd County and approximately the same number in neighboring counties, with the exception of Perry County, which had 49 confirmed cases. Requests for further confirmation takes two weeks or longer to return.