H1N1 is No Fun! by J.M. Holland

Every year the flu season hits early childhood settings hard. Often it can cause a site to stretch its resources to the limit. When one child gets sick in close quarters you can be sure, unless you are vigilant, another child will get the flu. Preschools not situated in public schools find it hard to get substitutes and adult child ratios become a matter of theory not practice.
In order to help your program quality stay high it is important to communicate the necessity of hand washing to children. Elmo has come out with a video to do just that...

With the coming flu season and the next round of H1N1 looming, directors need to be sure to have a plan to ensure student safety and learning. This can include communication with parents, staff training, and leave policies that are aimed to stifle flu sharing. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has begun recommending that children and staff stay home until they stop having a fever.

Stay home when sick: Children and caregivers with flu-like illness should remain at home and away from others until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever (100° F [37.8° C] or greater when measured orally), or signs of a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications. Symptoms of 2009 H1N1 flu virus can include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue, and sometimes diarrhea and vomiting. To the extent possible, sick individuals should stay at home and avoid contact with others until they have been without fever for 24 hours, except when necessary to seek medical care. Epidemiologic data collected during spring 2009 found that most people with 2009 H1N1 flu who were not hospitalized had a fever that lasted 2 to 4 days; this would result in an exclusion period of 3 to 5 days after onset of symptoms in most cases. CDC recommends this exclusion period whether or not antiviral medications are used. Early childhood programs, parents, or state and local health officials may elect to require longer periods of exclusion. Parental or community concerns and preferences also should be considered – and local health departments should be consulted – when evaluating if a more stringent exclusion policy is appropriate.

 

Thankfully, there are some resources out there. Flu.gov is the CDC's offense in its efforts to prevent an epidemic of H1N1. It has recommended that target populations receive vaccinations first.

• pregnant women,
• people who live with or provide care for infants younger than 6 months (e.g., parents, siblings, and day care providers),
• health care and emergency medical services personnel,
• people 6 months through 24 years of age, and,
• people 25 years through 64 years of age who have certain medical conditions that put them at higher risk for influenza-related complications.

 

(For additional info click here Flu.gov)
It held a contest to find a campaign "jingle" that was informative and targeted the audience hardest hit by the virus, young people ages 5 - 25.  Here is the winning video.

Comments

[Chelsey]

Thanks for sharing! Elmo always puts a smile on my face, and the information you provide is extremely important to educators and parents as the school year gets rolling.

Good Luck!
Chelsey

[Marlene Lobberecht]

Free clean hands/flu prevention materials (general posters, workplace flyers, coloring books, elementary materials) are available in any quantity to anyone from the Soap and Detergent Association website in conjunction with the CDC and other professional organizations. To access the FREE Cold & Flu Toolkit http://cleaning101.com/sda-cold-flu-toolkit or you may also download a recording of the Cold & Flu Season webinar http://cleaning101.com/files/2009-cold-flu-webinar.wmv.

The materials are free and terrific!
Please order and spread the info!
Marlene