Schools Learn Safe-Sneezing

Kohanga Reo, Deaf Education Centres, Music Groups, Schools All Learn Safe-Sneezing

Kohanga Reo, deaf education centres, special needs classes in high schools, intermediate schools, music groups and public health nurse-led groups join pre-schools and primary schools learning how to sneeze safely this winter, with a view to reducing the rate of hospitalisation from influenza-related illness which reached a 16 year high in 2006.

A North Shore primary school kicks off the Kleenex SneezeSafe programme TODAY, with Whangarei, New Plymouth, Hastings, Wellington, South Auckland, West Auckland, East Auckland and Timaru (South Canterbury was the region hardest hit by flu in 2006) in the second wave of activity next week. Hamilton, Nelson, Rotorua, Tauranga, Dunedin, Invercargill and Gisborne will take up safe-sneezing in the following weeks as winter’s chills set in.

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Latest data pinpoints complexity & severity of influenza burden, reiterating need for teaching children cold and flu hygiene

Independent virologist and consultant to the World Health Organisation, Dr Lance Jennings, believes teaching children cold and influenza hygiene practice is an important addition to the range of measures the health sector takes to reduce the incidence of influenza-related illness.

“Viruses are continuously evolving, causing outbreaks in some years which are more severe and complex. We need to take care of our families and communities with a range of measures, in addition to vaccination and taking anti-viral medications,” he says.

Dr Jennings is supporting the third successive Kleenex SneezeSafe health education initiative underway in schools around the country. He says the SneezeSafe ‘squad’ system, which encourages children to ‘spread the safe-sneezing message and not the cold and flu virus’, will help safeguard the influenza high-risk groups and the wider population over time.

According to the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) 2006 report recording the incidence of influenza-like illness in New Zealand, the influenza burden for babies and over 65s (the highest-risk group), reached a 10-year high last winter.

The report cautioned that the severity of the predominant Influenza A (H3N2) strain in 2006, particularly among high-risk groups, meant that 652 people were hospitalised - the highest number on record in 16 years.

On the upside, the data showed that GP visits for influenza-related illness had declined significantly across the lower-risk age groups - 38,239 New Zealanders visited a GP with influenza-like illness in 2006, 19% lower than the 2005 total of 47,108.

The Kleenex SneezeSafe teaching programme was first offered to pre-schools in 2005, and in 2006 it was adopted by new entrants’ teachers in primary schools. In 2007, junior and middle syndicate leaders of primary schools, head teachers of pre-schools, and public health nurses throughout the country have received free teaching kits.

The makers of Kleenex Anti-Viral tissues have developed and funded the Kleenex SneezeSafe initiative, supplying more than 5000 schools and pre-schools with free kits including 30-minute lesson guides, classroom posters, fun science facts about safe-sneezing, SneezeSafe SQUAD stickers, and a new on-line VIRTUAL SNEEZE component (allowing children to witness a risky sneeze on-line without catching it) at www.sneezesafe.co.nz .

Lesson content for Kleenex SneezeSafe has been designed for the ‘Body Care & Physical Safety’ key learning area of New Zealand primary schools’ health curriculum, and the technical content has been verified by the Ministry of Health.

ENDS

Most prolific spreader of cold and flu virus particles = the sneeze

Dr Jennings first investigated the spread of cold virus particles in an Antarctic-based study 28 years ago. He says it is scientifically correct to focus a health education programme of this kind on the sneeze. Of the various means of transferring cold and flu virus particles by air, (e.g. sneezing, coughing, nose-blowing, speaking, laughing), the sneeze is believed to be the most prolific vehicle for the spread of live cold virus particles from person to person.

South Canterbury hardest hit by influenza in 2005 and 2006

According to weekly Influenza Surveillance statistics tracked by ESR, South Canterbury was the only region in the country where GP consultations for patients with ‘influenza-like illness’ (ILI) exceeded 400 per 100,000 practice patients in the peak of the flu season in both 2005 and 2006. South Canterbury was joined by Eastern Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki and Hutt in 2005, when the influenza peak came earlier and was more widely felt than in 2006.

This information is sourced from http://www.surv.esr.cri.nz/virology/influenza_annual_report.php

The VIRTUAL SNEEZE demonstrates sneeze hygiene … SAFELY!

To experience the VIRTUAL SNEEZE teachers and students can visit www.sneezesafe.co.nz, where they see a range of animated sneezes in action without exposing themselves to any cold and flu viruses. The safe sneezes include: the ‘No. 1 Safe Sneeze’, which is trapped in a virucidal tissue and binned; the ‘Trap and Wash’ sneeze which is trapped with cupped hands and washed down the sink; and the last resort, no-hands ‘Coming Ready or Not’ sneeze which is trapped in the crook of the elbow with live virus particles isolated on the fabric of the sleeve. The risky ‘Spreadable Edible’ sneeze isn’t trapped at all, and spreads all over people and surfaces within a one-metre radius, illustrating to the children the risks associated with sneezing unsafely.

Virucidal tissue technology has enhanced cold and flu hygiene

Dr Jennings says the need for hand-washing after every sneeze is lessened where a virucidal tissue is used to trap a sneeze. When moisture from a runny nose, cough or sneeze comes into contact with the treated tissue’s inner virucidal layer, 99% of cold and flu viruses are killed in the tissue before they can spread. Kleenex Anti-Viral tissues are the only virucidal tissues available and have been tested to kill Influenza A and B (causes of the flu), Rhinoviruses Type 1A and 2 (leading causes of the common cold) and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV – leading cause of lower respiratory infection in children).

Westport South Primary taught 1670 locals to sneeze safely in 2006

Fourteen 5-year-olds from the new entrants’ class at Westport South Primary School took up the challenge of teaching their community to be SneezeSafe in 2006. The children taught 1670 people how to sneeze safely - an average of 119 people per child – earning the national title ‘Top SneezeSafe Squad’. Class teacher Annette Jones said: “We were really involved with the SneezeSafe message, taking children to other schools, pre-schools and aged people’s groups. One outlying school was two hours’ drive away over a windy track. We’ve even been to nursing homes and the Fire Brigade. Everywhere we went we asked people to pass the message on.”

ENDS

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