Captain Cough

This current round of H1N1 (swine) flu is hitting kids hard. While local physicians have been working diligently to help children with flu symptoms, Children’s Flu Fighters have been out in our communities teaching kids how to prevent flu bugs from striking.

Children’s Hospital launched the Flu Fighters program in September as an outreach campaign targeting schools and daycares, primarily in Wisconsin. It’s a Web-based program (www.childrensflufighters.com) with free, online resources.

Here is a sample of the comments we’ve received from teachers on our Flu Fighters Web site:

“I just wanted to thank you for this Web site. It’s a great resource for my classroom! So much at so many different levels.”

“Thank you so much for sending us the flu fighting packages. My daycare families were so grateful and the stickers and posters really helped the daycare kids see the visual aspect on what to do. I also sent some to my son who has a special needs classroom to share with his classmates. Thank you again – we appreciate the proactive approach and involvement CHW is doing to help stop the spread of the flu and educate children and their parents.”

—Nicki, Cody’s Cradle Child Care, Greenfield, Wis.

Before launching Children’s Flu Fighters, we did our homework. We learned that the Centers for Disease Control and other notable experts offer a lot of information on the flu. However, very little is targeted toward kids. That’s where our Flu Fighters come in.

To date, we’ve fulfilled more than 3,500 requests for Flu Fighting kits from schools and daycare centers. Visit the Children’s Flu Fighters Web site to register and place your order. You also can download fun teaching sheets like Sneezology for older kids and coloring sheets for younger kids. We hope our fun superheroes can help children understand how they can prevent the spread of illness in your home, school and community.

~ Bridget Clementi, director, Community Health, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin

Read more blog posts by Bridget Clementi.