CAMILLUS -- At World of Wonder daycare in Camillus, handwashing is a regular event. The 2012 flu season is already shaping up to be one of the worst flu seasons in close to a decade and Kayla Bonnie says the daycare center is doing everything they can to stop to protect young children from the flu.
"We're constantly having the kids wash their hands clean. If we blow the kids nose, we use gloves than we wash our hands after too. So it's constant hand washing," she says.
New York is one of eight states already reporting widespread flu outbreaks. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, this is the earliest flu outbreak since the 2003-2004 flu season. Bonnie says World Of Wonder Daycare has managed to avoid any major flu outbreaks but says she is seeing isolated cases. "It seems like there are two different types some are getting the stomach bug type flu and others are getting like a nasal kind of flu," she says.
To keep the flu from spreading, Bonnie says the staff at World of Wonder are constantly sanitizing surfaces and toys children may come in contact with.
"If a child touches their nose then touches that toy, that toy immediately goes in a bleach bin that sanitizes the toy," she says.
Health officials are urging people to get their flu shots now. They say early vaccinations will help keep the flu from spreading.
