I'd send my kid back, BUT ONLY if the provider assured me that all surfaces had been disinfected following removal of the kid with H1N1. And I would seek assurances that the surfaces would all be disinfected again each and every time a kid is sent home or is kept home as a result of the flu. AND I would hope it is impressed upon each parent that it is important to notify the provider immediately should your kid come down with the flu, so that appropriate precautions can be taken at the center.

Tamiflu or Relenza(?) is not prescribed for young children. It simply doesn't work on them.

If another child is sick, the other kids in the class have probably already been exposed and keeping them home won't do anything. Besides the fact that you could keep them home from school, but then take them to Target and catch it from someone there. If you kept your kids home from school every time they MIGHT get sick, they'd never go at all.

Something to consider regarding wanting the area cleaned or disinfected...

The H1N1 virus only lives on hard surface for up to 8 hours. By the time anyone comes back to school, the previously germy surfaces are harmless.

The important thing is to get your child out of school as soon as they show symptoms. Kids aren't built to "tough it out" the way adults often do. And it's just mean to keep a sick child in school where they can so easily infect all their classmates.

Fallacy list:
1) Kids will wash their hands. LOL!
2) You know who has the flu. Impossible. The genius of viruses is that they are most contagious BEFORE you get symptoms. the best assumption is that if one has it they all have it.

Every grubby little creature is a possible pathogen hand grenade.

As someone whose vast medical training includes watching the TV show House and years of hypochondria, I recommend complete isolation, possibly cryogenics.

I think I'm developing a new disorder I'm calling post-porciviropsychosomatic Top Chef-itis. It's an anxiety disorder where I feel compelled to watch chefs on Top Chef make super-delicious pork dishes.

Hey,side note, this week's Top Chef featured an event called PIgs & Pinot. Crazy good timing. Swine times nine plus wine.

Positive side effect of this porcine fear-mongering? Pork roasts have never been cheaper. Sad note, my blog buddy YumPorchetta gets pelted with Purel. ;-P

Cryogenics? No more babysitting my grubby little monsters for you, Owlie.

Hi Kate! Since you ask... we've already been through this exact situation. (Lucky us!) H1N1 showed up in our two-year-old's day care a few weeks ago. At this point, we figured he had already been exposed and he kept going. Sure enough, he spiked a fever a few days later. By that time, we had flu on the brain, and got him to his dr. right away for a flu test, since you have to start on Tamiflu within 24 hours.We were able to get him on Tamiflu, and fortunately, his case was pretty mild - he was fine after about three days.

Confirmed cases are different from "that time of year" anxiety. I'd wait til the next week to make sure the classroom is disinfected and children who are sick have gotten over it. There's no sense in intentionally exposing children to sickness at that age. They're not missing anything they can't learn at home.