Manukau children are sneezesafe now

As the spread of flu has been found by Australian scientists to be literally “child’s play”, Counties Manukau District Health Board’s 35 public health nurses are teaming up with the Kleenex SneezeSafe lesson to teach children about respiratory hygiene.

The education campaign is designed to reach up to 80,000 children, 3,000 teachers and 200 primary and intermediate schools in the area by the end of the school year.

A study of the Australian National University tracked the spread between Japanese population groups during the H1N1 pandemic and found that children infected an average of three other people, while just one in three adults infected another person.

The close air contact of children in the playground and classrooms is thought to be likely the reason for that.

Starting in March, the nurses will be armed with an Infection Control kit, which includes the SneezeSafe lesson plan. The campaign is designed to help address the region’s recent history as one of the nation’s worst affected flu hot spot. 

Reason for the early start in anti-flu education in Counties Manukau is the fact that classrooms here are affected three-fold.

2009 and 2010 swine flu statistics show children under 20 years of age – especially boys – were most affected by the virus and Counties Manukau was the region most severely hit, with 111 hospitalisations in both years. The area also suffered nine swine flu deaths in 2009.

Moreover, the 2010 flu surveillance data shows an increase in influenza-like illness, especially in Counties Manukau and the Bay of Plenty.

In the SneezeSafe lesson, children are shown in an interactive way – by using props like water, spray and glitter – why they need to keep their sneezes safe. Children are taught that unsafe sneezes, un-binned tissues and unwashed hands are the worst form of bad respiratory hygiene.

Alexandra Smart, Nurse Educator for the Counties Manukau DHB, says, “We are pleased to have the SneezeSafe lesson plan because it links to the NZ health curriculum, it is engaging children and it is familiar to schools.”

Once the DHB’s Infection Control programme is in place, the effectiveness of the lesson will be measured and the data will be made available to NZ virologist, Dr Lance Jennings, who is due to address an international conference of health leaders in Europe later in the year. Dr Jennings has supported the initiative for seven years to help limit the spread of flu among children.