JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As more and more children and adults come down with the flu in this season's epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the pediatric death toll has risen to 37.
Northeast Florida day cares and schools are on high alert for any signs of the flu in their young charges.
Their collective message to parents: Keep sick children at home.
That message is echoed by bus drivers, who have been coming down sick after being exposed to ill children.
The Clay County School District said about a dozen drivers have been out sick over the past two weeks.
Clay County bus driver Kelly Mead was recently diagnosed with the flu.
“Kids are coming on board, they feel bad, miserable. You can look at them coughing, hacking, sneezing, blowing their noses everywhere,” Mead said. “It’s just spreading throughout the bus and then spreading throughout the school.”
Day cares across the area are also taking precautions for the flu.
Staff members at Southpoint Early Learning Center have seen no cases of the flu among their children, and they are doing all they can to keep it that way.
The CDC recommends the flu vaccine for babies who are at least 6 months old.
Babies younger than that can’t get the vaccine.
So to keep little ones with little immune systems from contracting the deadly flu virus, day care workers said it's necessary to keep a clean atmosphere for children.
“Use a solution of Lysol liquid and water, and (the cribs) are cleaned periodically during the day and at the end of the day, also in the morning, if there’s ever any reason to feel like there’s a virus going around,” day care director Dee Chafee said. “Children have their sheets and blankets washed every day. Anything washable, soft -- they’re taken from the children after they’re done playing and put in the basket so that they’ll be washed and germs aren't transferred from one child to another.”
Sick children with any type of contagious illness are required to have a doctor's note before they can return to the day care.
And if a child starts showing signs of illness, parents are notified immediately.
“We call them and give them a heads-up,” Marlene Horne said. “If it’s a fever of 101, they have to go home.”
In St. Johns County, a letter was sent home this week to Creekside High School parents with the following advice to prevent the spread of flu:
- Get vaccinated.
- Keep sick children home.
- See a doctor ASAP if you develop flu symptoms.
The letter reminds parents it's best to treat the flu within 48 hours of getting it.
For more on fighting flu, go to cdc.gov.