from EEE to flu season
state health officials say healthy vaccine supplies anticipated this year

Even as the state Department of Health and Human Services wraps up its first season of dealing with an outbreak of Eastern Equine Encephalitis, they’re preparing for the onslaught of the coming flu season, recommending that patients at “high risk” of getting the flu get vaccinated by Oct. 24.
Though flu vaccines were in short supply last year after it was discovered that almost half the vaccines bound for the U.S. were contaminated, there are no reports of contamination this year, and Greg Moore, a spokesperson for HHS, said state officials expect a ready supply of 350,000 to 400,000 doses.
“Because of how … the supply comes in, we want to make sure folks from the high risk groups get their vaccine as soon as possible,” Moore said.

The Oct. 24 date will help HHS officials gauge whether there’s enough of the vaccine to cover the elderly, infants, those with health problems and other at-risk groups. Others are advised to wait until after Oct. 24 to get flu shots. Flu season typically begins in New Hampshire around late November.
Moore said state officials expect to see a relatively regular flu season, though Asia’s avian flu is causing concern among healthcare providers because of the high mortality rate and the lack of any natural resistance to the disease. A preparedness drill is planned for mid-November to test the state’s ability to administer mass vaccinations, Moore said. The state also has an influenza pandemic plan posted on the HHS Web site at: www.dhhs.state.nh.us. Though the regular strain of the flu is just a bad cold for most people, it results in more than 200,000 hospitalizations and more than 36,000 deaths nationwide each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Meanwhile, as more dead birds in the state are found to be carrying Eastern equine encephalitis, Moore said state officials are working educate the public on ways to prevent the spread of disease. Two New Hampshire residents, a woman in Newton and a man in Hooksett, were found to have died from the disease, commonly known as EEE, which is spread by mosquitoes. Though mosquito season usually ends after the first few frosts, state officials expect Triple E to return next summer. However, Moore said there’s no reason to panic. The disease is serious—one in three people infected will die—but rare.
“Many more people this year in New Hampshire will die of influenza than die of EEE,” he said.

This year, 32 birds have been found with West Nile Virus and 46 with EEE. Mosquitoes commonly spread both diseases. Infected birds have been discovered in Durham and Exeter and many towns, including Dover, Exeter and Seabrook, have started spraying pesticides to kill mosquitoes. The University of New Hampshire has also begun spraying its athletic fields in order to ward off mosquito activity. Triple E has also become a legislative policy matter, according to Moore. Health and Human Services officials are working with state legislators to introduce laws that would provide financial assistance from the state to towns dealing with Triple E, as well as make it easier for communities to bypass the environmental permits needed to spray pesticides.  

To prevent the spread of the disease, Moore said people should use insect repellant; wear long sleeve shirts and pants at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active; and eliminate any standing water where mosquitoes are likely to breed on their property.

New Hampshire’s hidden liberal side revealed

Was New Hampshire’s changeover to a just-barely blue state during the last election a fluke? Not to Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire’s Survey Center. Smith will present his findings on the changing political and cultural demographics of the state at a program titled “You’re Not in Kansas Anymore” at the Wiggin Memorial Library in Stratham on Monday, Oct. 3.

Smith’s presentation will focus on growth in Stratham and Exeter, places where he believes there have been “dramatic shifts” in political attitudes and lifestyles. Exeter, where the GOP was born in the mid-19th century, is now “solidly Democratic,” according to Smith. As for Stratham, what was once a “small rural farming village” is a heavily suburban area with massive amounts of development along Route 33.

The populations of both towns are growing rapidly—between 1990 and 2000, Exeter grew by 13 percent to 14,058 people and Stratham grew by 28 percent to 6,355 people, according to data from the state’s Office of Energy and Planning.

“Issues of population growth are a catalyst for discussing these issues,” Smith said. “It’s causing a lot of political and social problems to occur that we hadn’t considered before.”

New Hampshire’s reputation as a stronghold of conservative politics is also changing. Smith said the state is “quite liberal” with a strong Libertarian, anti-tax bent. He sees the state as becoming more politically liberal over the next few years.

“It’s going the way of the other New England states,” which were heavily Republican in the early 19th century but slowly became more liberal, Smith said.

The presentation starts at 7 p.m. and is free. Wiggin Memorial Library is located at 10 Bunker Hill Ave. in Stratham. Call the library at 603-772-4346 for more information. 

everyone’s going to court

• The New Hampshire Supreme Court heard oral arguments for and against the proposed USA Springs water bottling plant on Sept. 15. Attorneys for the towns of Barrington and Nottingham and the grassroots group Save Our Groundwater argued that the state Department of Environmental Services violated the “public trust doctrine” in granting the bottling company a permit in 2004 to withdraw up to 300,000 gallons of water a day from underground aquifers. The groups believe the permit should be rescinded. A ruling is expected sometime within the next few months.
• The state Supreme Court will also hear arguments from the cities of Dover and Portsmouth on Oct. 19. The two cities want to file lawsuits separately from the state against manufactures of the gasoline additive MtBE. Both towns filed suit against 61 separate MtBE manufacturers in October 2003 after the additive was found in local water supplies. The state Attorney General’s office had filed a similar suit in September 2003 and informed municipalities that duplicate lawsuits would harm the state’s case. Portsmouth and Dover claim their lawsuits name different manufacturers and seek different amounts of financial relief.
• The owners of The Den coffee shop in Portsmouth squared off with their landlord Perry Silverstein last Thursday in Portsmouth District Court. As the Wire reported last week, Jim and Annie Clark, owners of The Den, were served with an eviction notice two weeks ago over back rent Silverstein claims is owed to him. After Silverstein’s attorney Jim McGee questioned Clark for almost an hour, Judge Sawako Gardner ordered the case be rescheduled to Wednesday, Sept. 28.

fired Hampton lifeguards plan lawsuit

A lawyer for two Hampton Beach lifeguards who were fired over a Web site one of them created is planning to sue the state.

According to a report in the Hampton Union, Dover lawyer Brian Stern, a specialist in civil rights cases, said he will file a wrongful termination suit against the state within the next few weeks.

Lifeguards Dan and Stephen Ryan were fired in August after officials with the state’s Department of Economic Resources and Development ordered Dan Ryan to take down his Web site, www.hamptonlifeguards.org, due to what state officials described as “erroneous and inappropriate” information on the site. Ryan refused and was terminated. Ryan’s brother Stephen alleges he was also fired when he requested leave work because of the Web site incident.

living dead to invade Market Square

They’re coming to get you, Portsmouth.

Break out the Halloween make-up and fake blood. Zombie-fied adults and kids will overtake Market Square this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. as part of the first ever Zombie Walk, sponsored by the Portsmouth Halloween Parade.

Dressed in their finest zombie regalia, the living, not-quite-dead will shamble about the Square for a short time before staggering to Point of Graves cemetery near Prescott Park at noon. The dead-fest wraps up at 1 p.m. Zombies are encouraged to stick to the sidewalks and avoid playing in the street. Brain-eating is also discouraged.

During the walk, organizers will hand out information on the annual Portsmouth Halloween Parade. Zombie wranglers say the outing will celebrate Portsmouth’s historic cemeteries and the popularity of zombie movies.