As a former preschool teacher, I have experience with just how quickly a virus can spread.
During my first few months on the job, I was sick nearly every other week with some kind of illness I contracted from the toddlers.
After about a year, I had built up quite the immune system.
We, as teachers, took many precautions to ensure the sickness would not spread to the other children in the class. The entire room was cleaned daily with a bleach and water solution and little hands were washed after every diaper change, art project, outside play and meals and snacks.
The toys and stuffed animals were cleaned at least once a week and sprayed with disinfectant every evening.
Parents were required to pick up their sick child and not bring them back to school for at least 24 hours.
These precautions didn’t prevent every illness, but helped contain the number of children and staff infected.
Enterovirus-D68 has been seen in the headlines lately and it is important to take precautions to protect yourself and your children from this and other viruses.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children are mostly likely to get infected with enteroviruses.
The CDC recommends taking the following precautions:
• Avoid contact with sick people.
• Wash hands often with soap and water.
• Cover coughs and sneezes.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces.
• Avoid touching the face with unwashed hands.
• Stay home when sick.
It is important to remember these tips as we head into the cold and flu season.
It is often difficult to stay at home when sick or to keep your child out of school, but arranging for one or two sick days is better than having a child end up in the hospital with an illness far more serious than the common cold.
Learn more about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov.