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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that up to 40 percent of Americans could get swine flu through next year. Taking immediate and lasting precautions for your kids this school year couldn’t be more important.
To put this estimate into perspective, that is roughly twice the number of people that usually get the flu in a regular season. With swine flu vaccines limited and generally low immunity against the strain, officials especially fear an explosion of cases when children return to school. This becomes even more concerning based on the fact that there have been an unusual number of serious illnesses in teens and young adults (ages 5-24) versus the usually more susceptible elderly and young children.
As with other flu viruses, the swine flu is spread via contact with infected droplets or surfaces followed by contact with a person’s eyes, nose or mouth. With school in session, the environment for passing the flu around entire schools, teams and staff is prime. Large numbers of people in close quarters, shared equipment, desks and supplies combined with limited hand washing availability are all factors that help spread the virus more quickly and broadly. Frequent hand cleansing (with soap and/or alcohol-based hand sanitizers) and disinfecting appropriate shared surfaces will help prevent the spread of the virus. Incorporating cleansing methods that have the ability to continue to kill germs over time could be the difference between one student versus the entire football team becoming ill.
To decrease the risk for your children and family, share these simple tips and keep them handy as your kids go back-to-school:
Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based sanitizer (if a sink is not available). This is the best way to prevent getting the virus. It’s been said a million times, but it is still the easiest, safest and most tried and true method for staying healthy.
Wash hands again after touching anything or anyone that might not have been washed with soap, sanitizer or disinfectant (including friends, desks, chairs, equipment). This is probably the toughest tip for kids to understand and remember. Just because they washed their hands two hours ago, doesn’t mean they are still clean. In two hours, many surfaces or people have been encountered that could have transferred the virus back to them.
Wash hands with soap that can kill the virus for a long period of time. This option helps reduce the risk of contamination when frequent hand washing is just not an option. Cleansers that contain 4 percent chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) bond to the skin and continue to actively kill germs for up to six hours after use. This helps prevent contamination when hand washing is not convenient or likely. Using a product with CHG could last into the school day if kids wash in the morning before heading out the door. Two over-the-counter brands that contain 4 percent CHG are Hibiclens® skin cleanser and Hibistat® individual wipes. Hibiclens and Hibistat have specifically been tested against a strain of the swine flu virus similar to the one that is currently causing illness in the community. Since these strains are of the same virus family, these products will effectively kill both types of flu virus for up to six hours.
Keep hands away from eyes, nose and mouth (and other people’s, too). Kids will be kids, but this is not the time to poke friends in the mouth or eyes or purposely sneeze on a friend. Basically, the old adage of “keep your hands to yourself” is a good reminder for children of all ages.
Cough or sneeze into your elbow rather than hand to reduce the risk of transfer. Instead of covering your mouth when you sneeze, these days you need to cover your whole face with your arm and close your mouth. That’s much more of a mouthful to teach kids, but it can come in very handy when out in public.
Avoid crowds. While this is often unrealistic, the point is a good one. Try to stay away from large crowds or at least keep your distance (3-6 feet) from others to avoid the risk of droplet contamination. You don’t have to stay locked in your house, but while in crowds be diligent about washing hands or using hand sanitizer. And, for “soccer moms” consider keeping the CHG-containing wipes in the back of the Suburban.
Get plenty of sleep and exercise. To keep the immune system strong, it’s important to take care of yourself, as well as your kids and family. Keeping a solid bed time can do wonders for staying healthy.
Stay home if you are experiencing flu symptoms (fatigue, fever, nausea, etc). Yes, stay home from work, keep the kids home from school and don’t feel guilty. This is the time to try to stave off the virus before it gets too bad, travels through your whole family or contaminates your entire office.
Isolate individuals that are ill or have flu like symptoms, especially in a family. The caregiver (usually mom or dad) should be dedicated to hand washing every time he or she touches the sick person (usually the child). In this case, a mask might also be a good precaution due to the close contact of the caregiver (who can’t help but kiss a sick child?). Again, using a hand wash that has CHG can minimize the potential of spreading through the family.
Use the hottest water possible in your washing machine, especially for sports and school uniforms and dry completely. This fall might be the time to turn that water heater thermostat back up. But to kill viruses it must go up to at least 160 degrees, which most household water heaters do not do. If yours doesn’t, use a disinfectant whenever possible in the laundry cycle. Always wash your hands after you transfer wet laundry to the dryer and dry laundry for 45 minutes to help kill more germs. All items coming out of the dryer should be completely dry to help ensure no bacteria can survive.
Protecting your school-age children and family from an unpleasant fall season may be as simple as taking basic precautions.
Rhonda Lemmo was a practicing Registered Nurse for more than 15 years. She is now at Molnlycke Health Care in Norcross, Georgia.
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