Study: Less than 10% of child care centers prepared for flu pandemic quoting : AAP Gateway

Just 7% of child care centers have taken steps to prepare for an influenza pandemic, and the rate increased only slightly after the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, a new study found. "In summary, pandemic influenza is a potentially devastating global health event, and young children in child care centers are a vulnerable group that can augment the spread of pandemic influenza into the community," according to the study. To determine whether such facilities were prepared to handle an influenza epidemic, a multidisciplinary group that included AAP staff surveyed more than 2,000 child care center directors. The authors recommended training child care center directors through webinars and health consultants. "Therefore, it is important to have strategies in place for mitigating pandemic influenza in these settings."Resources




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Many U.S. daycare centers may lack plans for pandemic flu

Fewer than one in 10 U.S. daycare center directors have taken concrete steps to prepare for a pandemic flu outbreak, a recent study suggests. Few directors said they had written plans to for pandemic flu preparation, trained staff or communicated with parents about this possibility, the study found. For the study, Shope and colleagues examined survey data collected from 1,500 daycare centers in 2008 and from 518 directors in 2016. But there's no vaccine for pandemic influenza, and it takes months once a new virus is discovered to develop a new vaccine for it, he added. "Pandemic influenza is different than seasonal influenza," said lead study author Dr. Timothy Shope of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.


collected by :Lucy William
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