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.

Food allregy awareness week - May 10-16, 2009

Food Allergy Awareness Week

Take Action, Prevent Reaction - May 10-16, 2009

In 1997, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) created Food Allergy Awareness Week to educate others about food allergies. Approximately 12 million Americans have food allergies. Thatʼs one in 25. In the U.S., food allergy reactions result in 50,000
emergency room visits and 150 deaths each year.

My 4 year old son was diagnosed with an allergy to peanuts and tree nuts about three years ago. His allergy inspired me to start www.allergyapparel.com to remind his caretakers of his allergy. I design shirts for children with food allergies. His allergy has also inspired me to help to raise awareness. I would like to take this time to make you aware of a few important allergy statistics,
information, and tell you how you can help.

As the mother of a child who attends preschool I am asking parents to READ READ READ. Read the labels. It is amazing what contains allergens. Soap, lip balm, lotion; even some sponges contain nuts, milk, and other allergens.

Statistics:
• Eight foods account for 90 percent of all food-allergic reactions in the U.S.:milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (e.g.,walnuts, almonds,
cashews, pistachios, pecans), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish.
• Though reasons for this are poorly understood, the prevalence of food allergies and associated anaphylaxis appears to be on the
rise.
• The incidence of food allergy is highest in young children-one in 17 among those under age 3.
• Even trace amounts of a food allergen can cause a reaction.

How you can help:
• Wash your hands and your childʼs hands with soap and water after eating.
• Clean the area where you ate with a cleanser.

Remind your child:
• Not to share food with friends who have food allergies
• Ask what your friends are allergic to, and help them avoid it.
• If a friend who has food allergies becomes ill, get help immediately!

Common warning signs and symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction:
Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death. The most common causes of anaphylaxis are food, medication,
insect stings, and latex.
• Complaint of a tingling, itchiness, or metallic taste in the mouth
• Hives
• Difficulty breathing
• Swelling and/or itching of the mouth and throat area
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Cramps and stomach pain
• Paleness (due to a drop in blood pressure)
• Loss of consciousness

If you see someone showing any of these symptoms, ACT FAST! CALL 911, mention anaphylaxis, and say you need someone who
can administer epinephrine.

Help me keep my kiddo and others safe. Be aware and help us raise awareness. Read a book at your childʼs school about food allergies, give a presentation to a local school or to a club, team, or organization to educate others about food allergies. Visit http://
www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/books-child.html to find a book about food allergies.

Would you like to support a local Mom? Both Nutty Scurries to School and No Nuts for Nutty were written and illustrated by Virginia mothers and are available at Amazon.com.
☛ Facts and statistics were obtained from foodallergy.org

Thank you to Teresa Green from Allergy Apparel for this article

We're on Myspace

We're having such a great response from Facebook that we decided to try out MySpace too.

Check out our profile.....
www.myspace.com/daycarematch

We're still learning how to use it, so have patience with us. If you have any pointers, we'd love to hear them.

All this technolgy is both amazing and overwhelming. I'm curious about Twitter too. Maybe you'll be seeing tweets from Daycarematch sometime in the future. I supposed I should learn how to send text messages first. Between parenting the kids and running our website, there's simply not enough time.

So check out our MySpace page and become our friend, or fan, or whatever term MySpace uses.