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Germ Fighters Student Illness Prevention Program

A Good Idea

Description

The 2003-2004 flu season had the potential to cause severe morbidity and mortality due to cases seen early in the fall, widespread vaccine shortage, and antigenic drift between the vaccine strain and circulating strain. In response to the potential for a severe flu season, a pilot flu prevention program called Germ Fighter was initiated in a Johnson County elementary school. The school participated in disease prevention educational activities, and began using ethanol based hand sanitizer.

Goal / Mission

The overall objective of the program is to reduce student absence due to communicable illness.

Results / Accomplishments

Rates of absence due to communicable illness were recorded at the school conducting the intervention and then compared to the rates of absence due to illness at a school with similar characteristics. The interventions used in this study were successful in reducing the incidence of student absence due to illness at the pilot school.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Johnson County Public Health
Primary Contact
Ralph Wilmoth, Director
Johnson County Public Health
1105 Gilbert Ct.
Iowa City, IA 52240
(319) 356-6040
http://www.johnson-county.com/dept_health.aspx?id=...
Topics
Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
Health / Children's Health
Organization(s)
Johnson County Public Health
Source
National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
Date of publication
2005
Date of implementation
2003
Location
Johnson County, IA
For more details
http://www.naccho.org/topics/modelpractices/databa...
Target Audience
Children

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A Good Idea meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
  2. The program evaluation is limited to descriptive measure(s) of success/accomplishment (i.e., program participation rates, number of services/education sessions/radio messages provided). Note: oftentimes, the program has been newly implemented and a program evaluation has not yet been conducted. Programs that have not yet been evaluated, but which show promise in improving health or quality of life, are classified as Good Ideas until an evaluation is conducted.