Information for Child Care Facilities

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention find that children less than 5 years of age are at increased risk of complications from influenza; the risk is greater among children less than 2 years old. Importantly, infants less than 6 months of age represent a particularly vulnerable group because they are too young to receive the seasonal or 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine; as a result, individuals responsible for caring for these children constitute a high-priority group for early vaccination.

Influenza vaccination is the primary means of preventing flu. Additionally, infection control measures are recommended to reduce the spread of flu. However, early childhood settings present unique challenges for infection control due to the highly vulnerable population, close interpersonal contact, shared toys and other objects, and limited ability of young children to understand or practice good respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene. Thus, parents, early childhood providers, and public health officials should be aware that, even under the best of circumstances, transmission of infectious diseases such as flu cannot be completely prevented in early childhood or other settings. No policy can keep everyone who is potentially infectious out of these settings. The purpose here is to provide updated guidance for reducing the spread of influenza in early childhood settings.

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