-Messenger photo by Emilie Nelson Webster County Health Department nurse Dawn Gehlhausen, right, gives Prairie Valley High School senior Myles Promes an H1N1 flu vaccination during a clinic held for PVHS students in Gowrie Friday morning. The Webster County Health Department has given approximately 3,500 doses of the vaccine to students in Webster County schools and daycares this month.

When it comes to the flu, schools can be a “germ factory” for spreading the virus. Every day, hundreds of students touch the same desks, doorknobs and sinks, increasing the chances of passing illness from one person to another. With the H1N1 virus being a concern this winter, the Webster County Health Department and area schools are working together to prevent the illness by vaccinating as many students as possible, said Kari Prescott, director of the Webster County Health Department. Prescott said a total of 6,406 permission forms were sent home to students in the Southeast Webster-Grand, Prairie Valley, St. Edmond and Fort Dodge schools to allow them to receive the vaccine. Out of the 6,406 students, approximately 3,500 vaccinations have been given. Students at Fort Dodge Senior High are the only remaining students that have not yet been vaccinated for H1N1. “We’ve had about 55 percent of the permission forms returned allowing students to receive the vaccine,” said Prescot.