Diane Payne has always been vaccinated against seasonal flu, but when it came to the new swine flu vaccine, she didn't know what to think.

Despite the frequent coverage in newspapers and on television, she had questions: Is it safe? Effective? Who should get it?

Payne is the grandmother of a 3-year-old and a 4-month-old. How should she protect them?

"There is a desperate need for real, true information," said Payne, who also serves as chairwoman of Wyoming Medical Center's board of directors. "... I do think it's on everybody's mind."

To learn more, Payne and her husband attended an information session put on by the hospital last week. With myths dispelled and a better understanding of the vaccine's target groups, they're on board to get the shots.

Now, Payne said, they just need to wait their turn.

A limited supply of nasal FluMist vaccine arrived this week in Natrona County, to be distributed first to health-care workers. Monthly clinics for the general public are set to begin later this month.

Although the doses have only recently arrived, local health officials have been planning for this situation for some time. They aim to distribute the vaccine first to health-care workers, then to people in emergency services, and finally, to the public.

"The vaccine is coming," said Robert Harrington, director of the Casper-Natrona County Health Department. "It will be in short supply and limited distribution, with high-risk groups getting first-priority."

Once the vaccine is available to the public, several groups will be targeted first: pregnant women, caregivers of infants under 6 months of age, people between the ages of 6 months and 24 years and those with underlying health conditions.

It's not exactly clear how long the process will take. The first shipment of 3,400 doses of swine flu vaccine began arriving Thursday in Wyoming. The state Department of Health expects to order more doses each week for the time being, said spokeswoman Kim Deti.

Across Wyoming, more than 200 health providers have been registered to administer the vaccine.

"It's part of the strategy to ensure we do the best job possible in ensuring the vaccine reaches the target groups while supplies are limited," Deti said.

Swine and seasonal

Although flu activity in Wyoming continues to be high, health officials stress there's no need to panic over swine flu. So far, the severity of the virus, which doctors call the 2009 H1N1 strain, is about equivalent to seasonal flu.

"It's not any more aggressive than any other flu, said Dr. Mark Dowell, Natrona County health officer and infectious disease specialist.

The symptoms are also the same, but vaccinating against one virus won't protect a person from the other.

Each year, between 5 and 20 percent of the population is infected with the flu. Roughly 200,000 people are hospitalized and about 36,000 die from complications due to the virus.

Since late May, 341 cases of swine flu have been reported to Wyoming health officials. Only two have proved fatal.

"Most of the people who get H1N1 recover unremarkably," Harrington said. "It is no fun. It feels lousy for several days."

For most healthy people who contract the illness, the flu will be left to run its course, Dowell said. Tamiflu, an anti-viral drug used to treat influenza, will be used for patients in high-risk groups.

The public needs to take responsibility to limit the spread of the illness, Dowell said. Simple measures, like hand washing and coughing into your sleeve, are recommended. People with flu-like symptoms that can be diagnosed over the phone shouldn't take the chance of exposing someone else by venturing out in public.

The key thing is to use common sense, said Harrington.

"If you feel sick, really sick, stay home," he said.

Parents are being encouraged to keep kids with fevers above 100 degrees or flu-like symptoms away from school, said Marty Wood, safe schools director for the Natrona County School District.

So far, only four elementary schools have experienced absentee rates above 10 percent. If a school's absentee rate were to rise to the 30 to 50 percent range, the district would consider temporarily closing it, Wood said.

"We are prepared, I think, for any eventuality regarding swine flu," he said.

Masks and hand sanitizer

Health officials have taken other steps to limit the virus' spread. At Wyoming Medical Center, workers have set up stations with masks, hand sanitizer, tissues and prevention tips.

"They are all over the place," said hospital spokeswoman Shauna VanderLinden. "Any door where you could enter the hospital, there is one. I've already seen people using them."

The hospital has 600 sanitizer dispensers throughout the facility and is encouraging staff and visitors to use the gel whenever they enter or leave a patient room.

Some hospitals, including Cheyenne's, have restricted children under 12 from visiting patients. Wyoming Medical Center hasn't set up similar rules, but has asked people with respiratory symptoms to avoid coming to the hospital when possible.

The emergency room will also segregate patients who have respiratory symptoms from those who do not.

As part of its H1N1 plan, the medical center will vaccinate its employees against swine flu. The hospital distributed its first 200 doses Friday to workers in the emergency room, labor and delivery and the pediatric unit, VanderLinden said.

The hospital hopes to eventually vaccinate all of its employees.

"It all depends on how much vaccine we actually get," she said.

Reach reporter Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com. Visit tribtown.trib.com/JoshuaWolfson/blog to read his blog. Reach reporter Margaret Matray at (307) 266-0535 or at margaret.matray@trib.com.