For the fourth week in a row, Maine has seen increases in emergency room visits for influenza-like illness.  That's according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which says that the bulk of the cases are likely due to the H1N1 virus.

The latest outbreak of the virus occurred last week at Bates College in Lewiston, where about 180 students have been affected so far.  Students at the school are being vaccinated, but state health officials say the vaccine takes one to two weeks to take full effect, so more cases at the college are expected.

About 14,800 doses of H1N1 nasal spray vaccine had arrived in Maine as of the end of last week, and another 18,900 doses of nasal spray and injectable vaccine are expected to arrive this week.    State health officials estimate that Maine will receive about 340,000 doses of various formulations of H1N1 vaccine by early December, about half of what's needed to vaccinate the 700,000 Mainers considered high-priority cases. 

The rest of the vaccine is expected to arrive later, but in the meantime, state officials say H1N1 vaccinations will focused on the highest priority groups, which include pregnant women, children older than six months, caregivers of infants under the age of six months, residential school students, some high-risk adults and certain health care workers.