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Marshalltown Medical & Surgical Center announced Tuesday it will only allow visitors to the hospital that are 18 and older unless they are visiting the Women's Care Center or for a special case such as an end-of-life situation.

As a way to protect patients from the H1N1 flu virus, the new guideline goes along with ongoing restrictions limiting visitors to one per patient and not allowing visitors who exhibit flu-like symptoms. Also, the hospital continues to screen every visitor upon entering the facility.

Liz Zuercher, public relations manager at MMSC, said so far it has been children younger than 18 that have been hit hardest with H1N1 in the area.

"The average age that we are seeing confirmed with H1N1 is 16 years old," she said. "It looks like people 18 or younger are the people getting the sickest."

Barb Grabenbauer, director of infection control at MMSC, said they are trying to keep their patients' health a top priority with the new restriction for visitors.

"We appreciate the benefits that come from patients receiving visits from friends and loved ones, but in the context of the H1N1 pandemic, we need to protect those whose health is already compromised," Grabenbauer said.

The H1N1 vaccine continues to be distributed to priority groups including pregnant women, health care workers, people who live with or care for children 6 months or younger, and those who are 6 months old to early school age who may have complications that make them high-risk. Marshall County Public Health has already administered more than 1,000 doses locally to these priority groups, who they have contacted directly.

Zuercher said there is not enough H1N1 vaccine supply yet locally to vaccinate other groups and that timeframe depends on when they receive more vaccine, which is often hard to predict.

Supplies are increasing nationally and Zuercher said it appears they will be able to open the vaccinations up to more groups soon.

"I think we will start seeing supplies to the local communities in higher numbers," she said.

Zuercher said the seasonal flu vaccine supply is expected to return locally by the end of November.

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Contact Andrew Potter at 641-753-6611 or apotter@timesrepublican.com