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.

• 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.