Influenza is highly contagious, but simple measures may go a long way in preventing the spreading of the flu. Children frequently get sick at school and so this institution is the ideal place where to teach young ones practical tips to avoid spreading their illness among their classmates.
“We are constantly advocating for the school community to follow preventive measures. This is done both with primary schoolchildren and secondary schoolchildren. Naturally with different teaching methods,” says Marthese Fenech, education officer, health and safety, at the Directorate for Educational Services.
For example, puppets are used to convey the message to Year 1 and Year 2 children, while informative videos and Powerpoint presentations are shown to older students.
Children are usually keen on the subject and pay attention during class. Fenech says they ask all sorts of questions.
“They ask if it’s true that they can get sick if they go outside and it happens to be cold after they’ve been warm near a fireplace or heater. Sometimes they ask if adults can acquire flu from their young children. And they also like to ask whether animals suffer from influenza as well, and if pets can acquire influenza from humans and vice versa.”
Leaving tissues under the desk, or lying around in computer labs, is surely not a good practice
There are currently 59 health and safety teachers in government schools and 41 in Church and private schools. In the primary sector, there is one health and safety teacher per college while in secondary schools, there are one or two resident teachers, depending on the school population.
Among the basic measures they teach children are to wash their hands thoroughly, which is of utmost importance; not drinking from the same bottles and avoiding stuffy places as much as possible.
Gone are the days when children used handkerchiefs to blow their nose, but tissues, which should be more hygienic, are quite often not disposed of properly.
“Leaving tissues under the desk, or lying around in computer labs is surely not a good practice,” Fenech says.
She suggests keeping a plastic bag and disposing of it at the end of the day – obviously sanitising one’s hands every time a child touches it. This plastic bag should be kept out of reach of others; it could be kept in the schoolbag.
As regards the availability of sanitisers in schools, Fenech points out that nowadays most primary school teachers keep a disinfectant in their class and most secondary school students provide their own.
Parents also have an important role to play. A basic guideline for them is not to take their children to school if they have influenza symptoms. However, not everyone cooperates.
“As with anything else, some do and some don’t. When a child is not running a fever, more often than not, he is sent to school. This can affect both his peers and his teacher adversely,” remarks Fenech. “When fever subsides a child may still be contagious and if he sneezes he will spread the virus through the droplets emitted. That is why we always tell the children to sneeze in their elbow if they cannot help sneezing in their tissue.”
Fenech explains that parents can also teach their young ones simple ways by which they can avoid spreading the flu.
“Parents can advise their children that if someone else is sneezing or coughing to look away; not to share stationery and anything else or, if they do, they will then avoid touching their eyes/nose/mouth; not to drink from others’ bottles; to allow fresh air to circulate their surroundings; and if they are in a theatre to sit at the end of the row if possible to avoid being in the midst of others.”