Students in Pinellas County public schools today started receiving the H1N1 vaccine. The school district, along with the Pinellas County Health Department, launched the mass vaccination effort at 16 schools. And the plan is to rotate the mini-clinics to different schools each day. "Wonderful, I think it's a great thing that they're offering it," said Paula Nixon, whose daughter, Grace, attends Madeira Beach Middle School. "There are about 1,300 children at this school, K through 8, and that's a lot of children they're exposed to on a daily basis." ...more

November 9, 2009

A 10th person has died from the swine flu in Pinellas County. The 55-year-old man had underlying health conditions, the Pinellas County Health Department said. As of a little more than a week ago, there had been 140 confirmed swine flu deaths in Florida. ...more

October 30, 2009

H1N1 vaccines for swine flu are slow to arrive in Pinellas County and elsewhere. ...more

October 28, 2009

As people are once again learning, producing vaccines against influenza viruses is not an easy thing. Back in 2004, many will recall, there was a shortage of vaccine for what we have come to call the "seasonal" flu. One of only two pharmaceutical companies still making vaccine at the time had to shut down its production facility in England because of contamination problems. ...more

October 27, 2009

Saying it is experiencing the same problems obtaining swine flu vaccine as public health agencies around the nation, the Pinellas County Health Department has called a temporary halt to its "general immunization clinics." ...more

October 24, 2009

The death of a fourth person has been linked to swine flu in Pinellas County, the county health department said. ...more

September 16, 2009

Pinellas County has its first official swine flu-related death. The patient was a 36-year-old man and, as with many of the swine flu fatalities, had an underlying health condition. The health department learned Monday he had tested positive for swine flu, but it has released few other details, including his name or when he died, because of patient privacy concerns. ...more

August 11, 2009

A 61-year-old man, upset over a mix-up in his medication, threatened to blow up a Pinellas County Health and Human Services office on Monday evening, police said. ...more

July 7, 2009

EVENTS BIKE MONTH: March is Florida Bike Month. There will be events throughout the month. Visit www.TampaBay Cycle.com. ...more

March 28, 2009

Two facilities assisting people through life's tougher times are now ready to serve their growing populations. This weekend a day shelter for the homeless will open north of the city and next weekend a health care center accepting the noninsured sick opens downtown. The nonprofit faith-based group Grace Chapel Inc. will open a drop-in center for the homeless today, Saturday. ...more

March 21, 2009