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Flu season and fighting germs

girl with flu

Learn a little more...with a link!

Website Article: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC Says “Take 3” Actions to Fight the Flu | Three ways to help prevent the flu.

Website Article: KidsHealth, Should You Go to School? | Stay home if you’re sick.

Website Article: Parents, How to Stay Healthy This Winter | Great tips for the whole family.

Read the script:

In other health news: the flu, still spreading across the country. Kim Hutcherson has an update for us.

KIM: The flu is widespread in every state but Hawaii. A spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying we have several more weeks of flu season left to go.

In New York, the governor's office says a record number of flu cases and hospitalizations were reported with more than 1700 people with the virus hospitalized just this week.

In Florida, 20% of students in Gulf County were absent from class this week because of the flu, according to the county's school superintendent. Campuses were closed for cleaning before students return Monday.

SCHOOL ADIMINSTRATOR: Somebody said we were called the sickest school in America, and I'd like to say today, we are truly the most sanitary school in the United States. Don't label us with the stereotype. We are the cleanest school in America.

KIM: The CDC says the H3N2-A virus is the dominant strain this year, like in 2014 and 15, and is typically associated with more hospitalizations and deaths. Even though the flu season is well underway, it's not too late to get vaccinated. Experts recommend that everyone six months of age and older get a flu shot. I'm Kim Hutcherson reporting.

RICK: Thanks Kim. For this week's poll, we want to know: have you had the flu? You can go online and vote in our poll either yes or no. Remember now, the flu is a viral infection that makes you feel achy and tired. It can be accompanied by chills and fevers. You might be surprised to hear it, but one thing that might be making you sick is your winter clothes! Reporter Ann Sterling has those details.

ANN: How many surfaces do you touch every day? How often do you wear your gloves, scarf, and coat without washing them? When was the last time you washed your gloves?

MOS: Oh, good heavens, probably two weeks ago.

MOS: This is hand-knit, so, I don't think I've washed it.

MOS: Oh, it's been awhile. I would say about three months.

ANN: According to a microbiologist in Arizona, three months is too long. He says bacteria and germs can build up on our winter clothes, which can make us sick.

MOS: Yeah, I should wash it more often, come to think of it. I go to the gas station and I just... Everything I do I always have my gloves, but I never think about actually washing.

ANN: So how much should you be washing your winter clothes? Here are the dirty details: your hand-warmers are the worst offenders. According to the experts, gloves are hotbeds for germs. They should to be washed every four weeks. Your scarf is constantly touching your face and hair. Experts say you need to wash it at least once a month.

RICK:Thank you, Ann. Better make sure I get my laundry done, right. Well, for students at Magnolia Elementary in Maryland, keeping clothes clean is a school-wide effort, and they're happy to do the chores. Our reporter has those details.

REPORTER: The laundry room at Magnolia Elementary Is getting plenty of use.

STUDENT: My job is to help clean the clothes, put them in the dryer, fold them.

REPORTER: The students and volunteers consider it a labor of love: laundry service for families in need.

SCHOOL ADMIN: Laundry is very, very expensive. With many of our families, they spend anywhere from $10 to $15 per load.

REPORTER: Now, a program called Loads of Love is lightening their load.

WOMAN: So, they drop their clothing off, and then they pick their clothing up at the end of the week.

MAN: Are these dirty? - Yeah, these are dirty.

REPORTER: Redskins long snapper, Nick Sundberg, says his wife Flor came up with the idea after learning of a similar program in Missouri and California. Helping students clean their clothes was improving attendance.

NICK: So, the impact that we're trying to have is just getting kids to come to school more. The more kids come to school, the more they learn, the better grades they get.

REPORTER: Magnolia isn't the only school benefiting from this clothes-cleaning program. It's also in place at two other schools in the county, and two homeless shelters. Sundberg and the Washington Redskins' charitable foundation plan to expand the program to more schools this year, so they can reach more families.

STUDENT: This can help them, because they don't have to waste their money on washing that clothes, and they could use their money for more important stuff.

STUDENT: I think it's really cool to help others when they can't help themselves.

REPORTER: Turning laundry into Loads of Love.

RICK: Besides the laundry room, one place where folks are always fighting germs is inside hospitals, which makes sense, right, since people come in sick with all sorts of bugs. So, a hospital in Fayetteville, Arkansas has a new way to disinfect rooms. It's a robot that blasts germs with ultraviolet light.

Now, ultraviolet light is light with wavelengths shorter than the light that we're able to see. Often, you'll hear it referred to as UV rays, like those from the sun that can give you a sunburn. Kathryn Gilker reports.

KATHRYN: Washington Regional Medical Center now has two germ-zapping robots. Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Ratcliff says the last few years hospitals around the country have been experiencing a significant increase in hospital-acquired infections.

DAVID: What this robot brings to us is a whole new methodology, and one that kills viruses and bacteria, fungi, really anything living that the patient can acquire in the hospital, and have a hospital acquired infection, this is able to sterilize.

KATHRYN: Dr. Ratcliff says hospitals around the country that have been using these robots have seen about a 50% decrease in these infections. He says when an infected patient leaves the hospital, they do what's called a terminal clean.

DAVID: You come in with certain chemicals and try to clean all the surfaces you possibly can, but what this robot does, is through the ultra violet light that it emits it is able to get into every nook and cranny, and kill organisms on really all surfaces.

KATHRYN: To disinfect a patient room like this one, it takes three cycles which is 15 minutes, one cycle on each side of the bed, and then a third cycle in the bathroom. Environmental services manager Shirley Bowman says these robots will also help during this flu season.

SHIRLEY: It's an added layer of protection for our patients to ensure that they have the cleanest, safest place they can come.