by Effie Moore Salem

Created on: May 07, 2009

Flu prevention for children and adults follow the same meticulous hygiene instruction such as hand washing, how to cough without re-infecting self or others, and in general, sanitation above and beyond common practices. Along with that, yearly immunizations are a must. But there is more when swine flu enters the picture. Caution must be taken when feeding and caring for swine and protective garments and gloves are worn to stop cross contamination. Swine can also become infected with human viruses. They share many human traits such as intelligence, stubbornness and are always busy turning over rocks and soil looking for edibles.

This article mainly concerns children who live in and around farms or other places where pigs are also raised. Maybe even the family houses a pot belly pig, known for its loving nature. But also we are dealing with how to teach all children to be loving and kind to animals but to be cautious. This takes in sick birds - and downed birds and bird nests after strong winds - and why they should never touch them but leave them where they are and report them to parents who can alert health authorities. (Avian flu is much more dangerous than swine flu and too, no vaccine has yet been concocted against it.)

All children of course naturally interact with animals at petting zoos and in parks and even in their own homes as pets. Teaching them how to properly care for these living inhabitants by keeping their cages and all items associated with them clean and germ free is, in effect, teaching them about how to interact with all animals. Make them understand that all living things are subject to diseases. This makes hand washing before touching them, when touching is absolutely necessary, as important as hand washing afterwards. Neither they nor their pets should get sick because of negligence.

When the above advice is routinely followed, further teaching them during a swine flu outburst will be easier. Kindergarten age children and above will already be knowledgeable about certain aspects of how to prevent cross infections between humans and animals as well as humans to humans. As one example, they will not want to sneeze on their pet hamster for fear of infecting them with the flu; they will not want to eat their dinner without first washing their hands if they have been touching them. Three or four year old children will understand if told that sneezing is the body's means of getting rid of dust, germs or other particles that possibly could

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