Jacksonville-area day care working to shut out the flu

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As thousands deal with flu symptoms across Florida, day cares are cracking down to keep the flu out.

The flu is impacting kids especially hard this year with three pediatric deaths.

Day cares like Chappell Child Development Centers on the Southside said it is critical in making sure they don't have an outbreak of influenza.

The state mandates day cares to pass out flyers, a flu guide for parents. Staff at Chappell said they’ve passed them out at least twice this flu season.

From spraying toys to wiping down beds with disinfectants, the goal is to help the kids from spreading germs.

Chappell Centers serve about 600 families at their eight locations throughout Jacksonville. Director Nancy Dreicer said eliminating germs is their top priority.

“We tell them wash your hands, wash your hands. Disinfect double. They know that the flu is here and they don’t want their children to be getting ill,” Dreicer said.

She believes parent involvement is key so they send out notices reminding parents what they can do to keep their children healthy. Before going into the classrooms, teachers, including guests, put on shoe booties so they don’t bring in additional outside bacteria. They use a bleach-water disinfectant along with a product used at a local hospital to disinfect.

“We also use an Ecolab product that does some extra disinfection,” Dreicer said.

Their goal at the day care is to protect every child from getting influenza. Staff said they require kids to sneeze into their arm sleeve, instead of their hand, to contain their germs better.

Cox Media Group