Flu scare sees creches post a decline in attendance
It's no longer a baby's day out at many of the creches and day care centres here which have witnessed a 30-50 per dip in attendance in the wake of the swine flu outbreak with many of them adopting high hygiene standards and fortifying their menus.
Cautious parents keen to ensure their children don't catch the flu have opted to leave their children at a relative or grandparents' place rather than at regular creches while others have chosen to take leave and personally take care of their child.
"We have seen attendance drop by 50 per cent in one of the centres while in the other day care centres there were just one or two children coming in", says an official running a chain of day care centres in the city.
"The attendance had dropped from 30 children to 15 and now to 10", says Pooja who runs Inbloom, a day care provider.
But parents, who are saddled with job pressure and who have little option of having a relative to babysit the child or to take leave, continue to send their children to day care centres, ensuring that these centres take ample precautionary measures.
"We have stepped up all precautionary measures, says Seena Edvin" of Tom and Jerry Creche.
Day care centres have launched multiple strategies to ensure kids ranging from six months to six years, who often stay at these creches for nearly eight hours, do not catch the flu. Right from altering menus to replacing cloth napkins with disposable tissues, day care providers have gone into a high precautionary mode.
The flu scare has led many parents to insist that creches maintain high hygiene standards and some have even asked the staff to wear a mask as a precautionary measure.
At Tom and Jerry, using hand sanitisers has become the norm. "We are also now using disinfectants to wipe door knobs, and common use area of the children. Objects lying in the creches are wiped once in six hours", says Seena. The floor is sprayed with disinfectant more frequently.
"We have also changed our menu. Foods that trigger off cold are being avoided", she said. The normal cloth napkins have been replaced with disposable tissues, she said.
The centre has also tied up with doctors and have directed parents to consult their doctors on do's and don'ts.
At some of the centres catering to those working in the IT field, parents have chosen to pull out their wards for some days from their regular day care centre to keep them at the campus-run day care centre. The proximity factor to the parents workplace was the main reason for the move, says one.
At Kara Daycare Centre, attendance has dropped for infants in the age group of six months to a year. However, for the rest the attendance had been little impacted, said Katherine Rustumji, CEO of the Centre.
The day care centre had decided not to jump into the panic mode and to present parents with "realistic risks".
Parents have been educated that chances of a child contracting the virus at the centre were lower as compared to contact with parents who have been travelling, working with scores of colleagues, visiting malls and working in airconditioned workplaces, she said.
The centre which follows the UK standards of health and hygiene said that there had not been any change in the menu, since the institute was very strict about providing food that was balanced and enhances the immune system right from the beginning.
The centre continues to interact with parents through a blog where all necessary instructions were posted, she said.
Though there had been a demand from parents that the staff wear a mask and that the children also be asked to wear it, Katherine said that the institute had desisted from it. "Young children are not likely to wear mask for long hours", she said.
Many children were likely to fidget with the mask, remove it and leave on the ground and put it back, which only meant that they would have a dirty mask on, subjecting the child to higher risk of infection than when without one.
According to a parent whose child spends over five hours at the creche, "Well-run day care centres who enjoy total trust and confidence of parents, continue to see regular attendance".
Some of the creches and day care centres have been pressurised to close down for some days, a demand, many have found necessary to comply with.
"We have been trying to drive balance and commonsense", said Katherine and trying to sift the media-created hysteria from the realistic risk faced by all.
The centre, which follows the UK standards of health and hygiene, said that there had not been any change in the menu, since the institute was very strict about providing food that was balanced and enhances the immune system right from the beginning.
The centre continues to interact with parents through a blog where all necessary instructions were posted, she said.
Though there had been a demand from parents that the staff wear a mask and that the children also be asked to wear it, Katherine said that the institute had desisted from it.
"Young children are not likely to wear mask for long hours", she said. Many children were likely to fidget with the mask, remove it and leave on the ground and put it back, which only meant that they would have a dirty mask on, subjecting the child to higher risk of infection than when without one.
According to a parent whose child spends over five hours at the creche, "Well-run day care centres who enjoy total trust and confidence of parents, continue to see regular attendance. Many cases where parents do not feel confident in running of the creche, there have been instances of parents pulling out their child for few days and keep them home", he said.
Some of the creches and day care centres have been pressurised to close down for some days, a demand, many have found necessary to comply with.
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First Published: Aug 15 2009 | 2:25 PM IST