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EAST LIVERPOOL - As the flu season approaches, local health agencies and the city school system are getting ready.

On Tuesday, the East Liverpool Health District and nurse Jelayne Dray administered nearly 100 doses of adult, seasonal flu shots at City Hall.

"We got our first shipment in and are expecting to get a second shipment in the near future," Dray said.

Three volunteer medical assistant students from the Ohio Valley College of Technology - Kayla Poole, Kimberly Borelli and Amber Broadwater - assisted Dray Tuesday.

A second open clinic for the adult, seasonal flu shots is scheduled from 1-3:30 p.m. today at the city school administration building on Maryland Avenue. On Thursday, a third clinic will take place at First Nazarene Church at the corner of St. Clair Avenue and Walnut Street.

Dray said a separate clinic for children and those under the age of 18 will be held at a later date and at her City Hall office.

This is not the H1N1, or Swine Flu, vaccination but the seasonal flu shot, Dray emphasized.

In the meantime, officials with the East Liverpool City Schools District are preparing for the upcoming flu season and any possible participation in administering H1N1 vaccinations.

John Dawson, school nurse, said school officials are in constant contact with Bob Zehenbauer with the Columbiana County Health Department and with local health district personnel.

"As guidelines are developed or vaccines are made available, we will work with the health departments to formulate a plan for the children of our community," Dawson told school board members Monday.

Dawson said the H1N1 flu seems to be spread in much the same way as the seasonal flu with coughing, sneezing and contact with contaminated surfaces as possible methods.

"Our nursing department has met with Mark Reed (head of maintenance) and Superintendent (Ken) Halbert in formulating a plan to reduce the spread," Dawson said.

The plan includes:

- providing waterless hand gel for each classroom.

- providing tissues for each class.

- the purchase of and using special germicidal cleaners as is appropriate for each classroom by the janitorial staff.

- instituting a hand washing campaign for the district that includes a newsletter that can be used as a teaching tool in the classroom

- posing the hand washing newsletter classroom activity information and the CDC flu related Web site on the school Web site for easy access to staff, students and the public.

- sending a communication to all principals asking for statistics regarding any spike in absenteeism (so that the nursing department may explore possible reasons).

- providing up-to-date guidelines to all staff at the http://www.cdc.gov Web site.

- knowing seasonal flu shots may not cover other strains of flu and a regular flu shot should still be administered.

- contacting Jelayne Dray, city health nurse, to administer the seasonal flu shot to employees as in years past.

- encouraging good eating habits.

Dawson said that according to the CDC, when an H1N1 vaccine becomes available the people to receive it will be, in order: Pregnant women, persons living with/caring for infants less than six months of age, health care professionals, people between the ages of six months and 24 years of age and people between the ages of 25 and 64 years of age.

While there are no fast guidelines, Dawson said the school might be shut down for a period of time if more than 25 percent of the students are absent due to illness or if 8 percent or more of the staff is suffering from flu-like symptoms.

Halbert said it is still not clear what role, if any, the school system would play in helping administer an H1N1 vaccine once it becomes available.