Day care working to prevent measles

 The outbreak of the measles virus in the United States has made day cares take extra precautions when it comes to their staff and their children.

Best Friends Forever Daycare in South Bend is checking and rechecking to make sure their staff and their children stay healthy.

Before being allowed to enroll in the daycare, children must have the measles vaccination as well as be up to date on all other shots.

Beyond the children, the staff at Best Friends has to be vaccinated as well in order to make sure everyone stays safe and healthy.

The day care has two different houses; one is referred to as the baby house, which cares for toddler aged children, and the other house cares for children up to pre-teen years.

Lead teacher and manager of the baby house Jacqueline Smith says they spend a lot of time each day cleaning and making sure everything is sanitized to prevent anything from the common cold to the flu.

She said proof of vaccination is required before allowing children to enroll.

“All of our kids, no matter which house they're in are required to turn in their records, their shot records before they're even enrolled,” said Smith.

Indiana state law requires children to be vaccinated for anything that is a vaccine-treatable virus, in this case the measles.

However, the only exception to this is for religious purposes but Smith says that so far they have not had any issues with this.