Eight Practical Measures to Help Families Stay Healthy 

After an emergency meeting the World Health Organization has declared the H1N1 virus, also known as Swine flu, a pandemic, the first in 41 years. Recorded cases have reached more than 25,288 in 72 countries, with 139 deaths. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that so far there have been around 13,217 cases and 27 deaths. Read information from the WHO on Understanding Pandemic Severity.

To help parents stay informed, here are some steps families can take to lessen the chances of becoming sick. The following advice is adapted from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for preventing the spread of the common flu, and our experts believe these tips are useful to avoid swine flu as well.

1. Encourage regular hand washing. Tell children to wash their hands with soap and water for 15-20 seconds, or long enough to sing the "Happy Birthday" song twice. As an alternative, supervise the use of alcohol-based hand cleaners by children. Keep hand cleaners out of reach of small children when not in use and don't use on the sensitive skin of infants and toddlers.

2. Remind children and care providers to cover their nose and mouth when they sneeze or cough.

3. Suggest that family members use tissues for coughs and sneezes and then put the tissues into the trash. If they don't use a tissue, advise them to wash their hands as soon as possible.

4. Encourage children to avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth.

5. Keep your children home if they are ill.

6. Avoid close contact with sick people.

7. Keep up a healthy lifestyle. Make sure you and your children get enough sleep, manage stress, are physically active, drink lots of fluids, and eat nutritious food.

8. Stay calm and talk to your children. Parents can be the best communicators to children on how to stay safe and healthy.  

A Save the Children doctor teaches proper handwashing to help to stop disease. Credit: Michael Bisceglie

 Additional Information

Officials are still gathering information to learn more about the current swine flu outbreak. Save the Children recommends that parents keep informed by checking reliable sources of information. See below for a list of websites for more information on the H1N1, or follow the CDC Emergency updates on Twitter for this and other health news. 

Watch a video message from Dr. Steven Galson, acting surgeon general, on containing the spread of the H1N1 virus (swine flu) on the CDC's YouTube Channel. 

For an in-depth analysis and more advice on the swine flu virus, consider these three websites: 

• U.S. CDC Flu Guidelines for Parents: www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/flugallery/2008-09/parents_guide.htm
• U.S. CDC Swine Flu and You page: www.cdc.gov/swineflu/swineflu_you.htm
• The U.S. government's site: www.pandemicflu.gov.

Last Updated June 11, 2009