Swine flu information for childcare providers

We received the following email from the National Association of Family Childcare and thought it was information worth passing on.


NAFCC has been working closely with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as the CDC has been considering the implications of the flu pandemic for family child care. With the recent outbreak of the swine influenza, the Center for Disease Control has requested that NAFCC inform our membership of the following precautions to prevent the potential spread of swine influenza.
The CDC has identified cases of swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus infection in people from several states including California, Kansas, Texas, New York and other states (see updates at www.cdc.gov/swineflu). CDC is working with local and state health agencies to investigate these cases. It has been determined that this virus is spreading from human to human.
Mexico has reported increased levels of respiratory disease including reports of severe pneumonia cases and deaths. The swine-origin influenza viruses identified by CDC from cases in Mexico are similar to viruses from patients in the United States. As of April 29, 2009, of 91 patients identified thus far in the US, most have recovered, but five have been hospitalized and one patient, a child, has died. However, the CDC is concerned about these cases in the United States and the World Health Organization are concerned about continued spread of this new virus. Right now, there is no vaccine for this new virus and the current seasonal influenza is thought to be unlikely to provide protection against this new strain.

For more detailed information about what child care providers should be doing to prevent the potential infection or spread of this disease, please copy and paste the following link in your browser; http://www.nafcc.org/documents/cdcproviderrecommendations.pdf or click here.

For up to date information, please see the CDC’s Website or view their swine influenza specifics site click here.

For a printable flyer to distribute to your parents and colleagues, please copy and paste the following link into your browser; http://www.nafcc.org/documents/preventingtheflu.pdf or click here.