Flu vaccine eligibility requirements have been lifted in Wisconsin after a vaccine shortage turned out less drastic than anticipated.

Fear of such a shortage caused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in October to mandate only high-risk individuals could receive flu shots. High-risk individuals included those who were over 65, had asthma or were pregnant.

According to a statement, Gov. Jim Doyle granted all Wisconsin residents full access to the vaccine in late December. The restrictions were initially issued to distribute a smaller than average vaccine supply to those who needed it most.

"Back in late summer one drug manufacturer had difficulties with the manufacturing process and that essentially cut the amount of vaccine that is supplied to the United States in half," said Carol Wantuch, health officer in the Cudahy Health Department.

Although the country's supply of vaccine was significantly reduced, Wisconsin ended up with leftover medicine. Wantuch said this is likely because the entire population eligible for the vaccine, even those who should be vaccinated, did not seek it.

"In people's mindsets, they think 'I'm not sick' or 'My neighbor's 85, she needs it more' or 'The flu wasn't that bad last year, it's no big deal,'" she said.

Lisa Taylor, clinical coordinator for the Shoo the Flu program with the Aurora Visiting Nurses Association of Wisconsin, agrees that eligible people refusing to get flu shots contributed to the state's bank of leftover vaccine.

"The number of people who fell into the first eligibility category was not the number of people who came out for a flu shot," Taylor said.

Among those who became ineligible for a flu shot under the original restrictions were most college students. Taylor said Shoo the Flu usually visits schools in October or November to administer flu shots but did not this year.

Shoo the Flu usually comes to Marquette, but did not come this year because of the vaccine restrictions, according to Nursing Supervisor at Student Health Service Diane Walcheske.

"They reserved their doses for those most in need," Walcheske said.

When the restrictions for vaccine eligibility were lifted, most students were leaving campus for winter break, according to Walcheske. She said Student Health Service is now out of vaccine, but some students came in before break and were immunized.

"We did have quite a few people come in right before and just during the beginning of break," she said. "We gave our last dose at the end of 2004."

Wantuch said many people who suddenly became eligible for a flu shot did not seek one because they have not seen much evidence of a particularly bad flu season yet.

"The flu normally peaks in Wisconsin in January or February," she said. "The peak hasn't happened yet." She said the strain is different every year and it is difficult to predict how bad it will be in 2005.

Whether or not the flu will be unusually prominent at Marquette this year is also hard to discern, according to Walcheske. She said students in general are reluctant to get flu shots.

"There's a lot of sick people on campus," Walcheske said. "It's hard to say if there's a connection between that and lack of flu shots."

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Feb. 3 2005.