Health Headlines - September 6

Day care centers urged to be vigilant against flu

Will you start seeing thermometers at day care centers? The government is urging the nation's 360,000 child care providers to be vigilant about sending home children who may have the flu — and the main symptom to check for is a fever.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines for day care programs that echo the advice for schools: Kids need vaccine — against both regular flu and the new swine flu — and they should stay home when they're sick. Don't return until 24 hours after a fever naturally subsides.

"If your child comes down with the flu, we hope you plan to keep them home and not share this with their playmates," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said.

The guidelines urge day care providers to do a quick health check every day, looking for children with flu-like symptoms or other signs that they might be getting ill, such as not playing normally. Centers should separate the sick child from others until he or she can be taken home.

Meanwhile, day care centers also should stress commonsense flu-fighters: Wash hands often, and teach children to cough and sneeze into their elbow, not the hand they'll immediately stick onto a toy or a neighbor. A key way that flu spreads is for someone to touch a germy surface and then touch their nose or mouth.

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Glaxo's cancer vaccine inches toward approval

Federal regulators said that a GlaxoSmithKline vaccine prevents the leading cause of cervical cancer in women, bringing the company one step closer to competing with Merck's blockbuster Gardasil, which has controlled the U.S. market for three years.

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FDA: Merck's Gardasil stops genital warts in boys

Merck's blockbuster vaccine Gardasil, which is already used to prevent cervical cancer in women, also stops viruses that cause genital warts in men, the Food and Drug Administration said.

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White House signals openness to health compromise

Even as liberals urge President Barack Obama to demand bold, far-reaching changes to the nation's health care system, the White House signaled openness to compromises that might attract moderate congressional Democrats as well as some Republicans.