Local health officials are unsure when H1N1 flu vaccinations will arrive for the general public, but they are urging people with flu-like symptoms to stay home and possibly call a new information line.

The Austin Medical Center’s H1N1 information line — 507-434-1188 — is expected to be in place Friday and is a response to a high number of calls and visits regarding the flu.

Dr. Richard Schindler, infection control medical director at AMC, said roughly 50 percent of visits to the emergency room or urgent care in the last few weeks have been people with flu-like symptoms, but he said in most cases, they’re better off staying home and getting plenty of fluids.

“If you or a family member gets sick, you need to stay home and avoid contact with other people,” he said in a press release.

However, if symptoms are severe, people should contact their health care providers and consider going to the hospital. These include trouble breathing, fevers of 104 degrees or more that don’t go down within a few hours and seizures.

If you do visit the hospital, don’t expect to get tested for the virus — local officials say it adds unnecessary costs when treating the symptoms is much more important, and federal health officials have stopped tallying cases.

The first batch of vaccinations are expected to arrive in Austin later Friday or early next week, but there will only be 200 dosages and they will be targeted toward health care workers and emergency management personnel — both of whom have been deemed top priorities by state and federal officials because they will likely be working directly with people who have the flu.

The vaccinations will be FluMists, which can’t be received by pregnant women and people over the age of 49.

Dr. Schindler said the first batch of traditional, needle-administered H1N1 vaccinations should arrive by the end of next week. These will first go toward remaining health care workers, as well as pregnant women, school-age children and people who work with youth.

After that, it is unclear when enough dosages will be available for the general population.

In the meantime, residents can still get seasonal flu shots by calling AMC at 507-433-8758. Vaccinations are not currently available for children under the age of 4.

For more information on H1N1, you can visit austinmedicalcenter.org and click on the “Influenza H1N1” icon on the main page.

The website echominnesota.org/H1N1 also has information on the flu available in multiple languages.