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Few childcare centers require workers to get flu shot

Flu-like illness activity is high in Tennessee. A new study shows childcare centers across the country are not doing all they can to fight the spread of the virus.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Flu season has a firm grip on Tennessee.  The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows high activity for flu-like illnesses across the state.  East Tennessee Children's Hospital has seen 152 positive tests for flu since the start of December.

A newly-published study funded by the CDC shows childcare centers across the United States are not doing all they can to prevent the spread of flu.

Only 24.5 percent of childcare centers require children to get flu vaccinations.

Even fewer childcare centers require workers to be vaccinated. Only 13.1 percent require the caregivers to get a flu shot to fight the spread of flu.

STUDY:  Influenza Vaccine Requirements in U.S. Child Care Centers

The CDC recommends anyone older than six months get the flu vaccine.

Young children in daycare are especially vulnerable to the spread of flu. In addition to coming in contact with many children, toddlers are not able to manage their own hygiene compared to older children.

"We are trying to teach him to sneeze into his sleeve, not his hands. But he's a kid, he's not going to do it 100 percent," said Jill Guest about her two-year-old son, Nathan. "But when you're at a group setting like a daycare, you can only do so much. Protecting them with vaccines, I do feel that's important."

Guest said her son received the flu shot earlier this fall.

"He did great. He did not cry one single tear. He was a big boy. The flu shot is not 100 percent [guaranteed to stop the flu], and I know that." Guest continued, "The most important thing is protecting him as much as I can."

Credit: CDC
U.S. map of influenza-like-illness activity by the CDC as of Dec. 7, 2019.

Only a few states require childcare workers are children at childcare centers to receive flu vaccinations.  The vaccines are not required at daycare centers in Tennessee.

"That's unsettling. But I do understand that it would be a fine line, because do you have the state force something like that? But at the same time, you don't want to expose other children," said Julia Kendrick, mother of two-year-old twins. "I don't know the answer for exact laws or regulations, but I do everything I can to vaccinate my own children. They both got the flu shot."

LINK:  Doctors' Orders: Flu Vaccines - East Tennessee Children's Hospital

The East Tennessee Children's Hospital website notes it is important to know even healthy children can die from flu.  Last flu season the CDC reported 136 children died of complications from the flu.

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