The Shadow
ROANOKE (AP) – You better watch out. Santa Claus doesn’t want to catch the H1N1 flu virus.
Some national Santa hiring companies are trying to reduce the risk that this white-bearded man of Christmas – and the children who sit on his lap – will not contract the H1N1 virus, commonly referred to as swine flu.
Companies that hire Santas at shopping malls in the Roanoke and New River valleys are issuing new guidelines to their employees that advise them to change their white gloves often, clean Santa suits every few days and use antibacterial hand sanitizer.
One Alabama nonprofit, Santa America, even has requested to a state legislator that its Santas, including those in Virginia, receive the H1N1 vaccine. The vaccine is targeted at high-risk groups, such as pregnant women, young children and health care workers, because supplies are limited nationwide.
Also, malls in this region are installing hand sanitizer pumps near some entrances and St. Nick’s chair.
“We’re being proactive,” said Mike Poldiak, general manager of New River Valley Mall in Christiansburg, which installed sanitizing lotion dispensers at three entrances a few weeks ago. There will be a dispenser at the mall’s Santa set when he arrives Friday.
St. Nick typically does not have to worry about catching the flu during the Christmas season. In Virginia, the seasonal flu peaks in late January to mid-February, said Dr. Jody Hershey, director of the New River Health District.
But the H1N1 flu outbreak began in April, sickening millions nationwide and killing thousands.
H1N1 passes from person to person through coughing and sneezing. It also can spread by touching an object with the virus and then touching your mouth or nose, Hershey said.
For the first time, the four Santas who work at Tanglewood Mall are changing their gloves throughout the day to prevent the spread of germs, said Carolyn Frisnedi, district manager for SantaPlus, a Missouri company that hires Santas at the mall.
Camera operators also are using antibacterial wipes to clean the photo area at the Santa booth.
Roanoke’s Valley View Mall has hand-sanitizing gel at its Santa set. Cherry Hill Photo Enterprises, the company that hires Santas for Valley View, would not answer questions about the flu’s impact. Instead, it issued a statement: “We would assume that parents of children who have exhibited flu-like symptoms will keep their children from close interactive social activities until the symptoms have subsided.”
The company also asks that Santa not show up for work if he’s sick.
Similarly, Hershey suggested that shopping centers post signs encouraging parents not to bring their children to see Santa if they are sick. People should remain at home until they are fever-free for at least 24 hours, he said.
Santa America is asking its Santas not to wear gloves so that they can sanitize their hands properly, also in the hopes of teaching children proper hygiene. Additionally, Santas are dry-cleaning their red suits every other day, said President Ernest Berger.
But Berger is taking a bolder step. Last week, he contacted an Alabama congressman, Rep. Jo Bonner, requesting that his company’s Santas and others be eligible for H1N1 vaccine. Like child care workers, his volunteers see thousands of children year-round through visits to hospitals and hospices.
Similar to the popular image of Santa as a plump elf, one-third of the men who dress up as Santa nationwide are obese, making them an at-risk group for H1N1, Berger said. As of Wednesday, he had not received an answer from Bonner.
Locally, Santas are not a priority group for the H1N1 vaccine, but they will not be denied the vaccine if they request it at a local health department, said Robert Parker, a regional spokesman for the Virginia Department of Health.
To be sure, not all Santas are worried about getting sick.
Aaron Clark, owner of Ziggy’s Entertainment in Salem, will play Santa next month at a holiday party for the Vistar Eye Center in Roanoke. He’s not taking any precautions to keep from getting the flu virus this year, such as getting a seasonal flu shot or using antibacterial sanitizer.
“Most people say the flu, it’s not that bad,” Clark said. “I’ll take a chance.”
Still, Roxanne Purcell, a Roanoke County mom, said some precautions are better than nothing. She took her 5-year-old daughter, Ellen, to see Santa at Tanglewood Mall on Wednesday afternoon. Ellen received the H1N1 vaccine at Oak Grove Elementary School, where she is in kindergarten.
“I think it’s a great idea, especially with fighting the common cold,” said Purcell, referring to a bottle of Purell pump hand sanitizer placed near the ramp leading to Santa’s green chair.
Even so, the Purcells and another family who visited Santa on Wednesday did not use the mostly full Purell bottle.
