The Casper - Natrona County Health Department announced Monday that it has 200 doses of flu vaccine for the public just as the number of reported flu cases has sharply declined.

Health Department spokesman Marty Thone said some of the doses had been set aside for children's second shots - adults require only one shot - but some children have not returned for their final dose. Flu vaccine is in short supply throughout the country after a deadly early flu season.

Vaccinations are open to the general public at the Health Department, Thone said.

The announcement comes on the heels of a state Health Department release saying the new case rate in the state is "slowing." The numbers peaked at just under 700 new cases in the second week of December, to about 30 new cases in the second week of January. Final numbers for the week are not in yet, said state surveillance epidemiologist Nicole Lindsey.

In previous years flu cases peaked in early to mid-February.

On Friday, the state reported 2,034 cases of the flu this season, including eight flu-related deaths. The number of cases is four times what was reported for the previous two flu seasons. Laramie, Campbell and Natrona Counties reported 762, 268 and 251cases of the flu respectively.

Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said major flu indicators all decreased for the week ending Jan. 3, the most current report. Still, deaths from pneumonia and the flu recorded in 122 U.S. cities represented 9.4 percent of all deaths, which puts it above the 8 percent epidemic threshold.

"It seems like it's down," said Health Officer Dr. Mark Dowell. "We're still seeing it, but it's better than it was."

Dowell said the symptoms of the illness would be no less virulent as the flu season progressed.

"The worst part of this whole thing has really been the number of people ill," Dowell said.

Dowell had previously said the actual number of flu cases is many times higher than the reported numbers.

This year's flu has also led to large numbers of absences from school, though those too have decreased. Safe Schools Administrator Wayne Beatty said absences never reached the 30 percent to 35 percent level at which it would have been necessary to cancel school.

Beatty said elementary schools in the district are giving children hand sanitizer in the cafeterias, and custodial staff were wiping surfaces with a bleach solution.

He said teachers are offering make-up work to students at their own discretion.

The City - County Health Department can be reached at 235-9340.