Our little ones should not be alarmed with influenza A, but quite the opposite. However, in some countries there have been many infections and that has caused special measures to be taken in schools or that children feel enormous concern. Thinking about it and also the infection prevention this has been done nice video which has the endorsement of the Pan American Health Organization.
The ideas conveyed are quite simple. The most important, that parents listen to their children if they manifest any discomfort consistent with the disease. And for children, who explain their symptoms so they can be treated by the doctor and agree to limit their social life until they have improved.
In Spain we have not started classes yet, but, when they start, we must not rule out that children arrive home worried about things they hear there or, even, that cases occur in our school. The disease is benign in most patients and the main concern is that if the spread extends the health services are overwhelmed and there are many medical leave at work.
Our role is to transmit to our children serenity and also take advantage of the circumstance to reinforce some basic hygienic customs: washing hands, not coughing or sneezing in the face or not sharing food or cutlery. And it happened, get used to not watch news when children can see or hear something. These programs are usually very hard, with terrible images and messages that children are not prepared to assimilate, with data on deaths and worrisome comments. Better than a newscast, see this nice video on how to prevent the spread of influenza A.
