Daycares try to prevent spread of flu

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Thursday was the first H1N1 vaccine clinic that was open to the public. It was only open to children ages 6 months to 18 years.

Now, that people outside of the school system can get the H1N1 vaccine, it will hopefully start making daycare providers' lives easier.

"Now, I used to offer sick care here until the scare of the H1N1," Terissa Ripberger of Teri's Daycare said.

Ripberger wants the parents to feel safe when dropping their kids off, and those kids usually stop at nothing to spread germs.

"They are dirty. They get dirty so easy, you know, a lot of kids like dirt," Ripberger said. "We wash our hands with soap and water to make our hands clean, so we get no germs."

They have even set up rules to make sure sick kids are coming back to daycare too soon and putting other children at risk. Children at Teri's Daycare cannot have a fever or be on any medication to treat a fever. They can only return to school after the fever has been gone for 24 hours.

These rules appear to be working.

"I haven't seen a lot of sick children at my daycare facility at all," Ripberger said.