美圣诞老人希望接种甲流疫苗

Forget cookies and milk. Santa wants the H1N1 flu vaccine.

Many of America's Santas want to be given priority for the vaccine and not just because of those runny-nosed kids that will be sitting on their laps for the next month. There's also the not-so-little matter of that round belly. Research has suggested obesity could be a risk factor.

H1N1 flu has become such a worry that the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas featured a seminar on the illness at a recent conference. The group also urged its members to use hand sanitizer and take vitamins to boost their immune systems.

The president of the US organization said he also hopes parents will keep sick kids away.

"We don't want any child to go without seeing Santa, but it's not worth bringing your child to the mall, infecting the Santa and infecting the other children," Nicholas Trolli said.

He recalled a boy who informed him last year that he had a fever and had stayed home from school. But, the child said, his mother thought it was a good day to visit Santa.

Ernest Berger, president of another group called Santa America, asked an Alabama congressman last week to designate Santas a priority group for the H1N1 flu vaccine, like health care workers or caregivers for infants.

A spokesman for Republican US Rep Jo Bonner confirmed Berger's request and said staff members were looking into it.

Berger hopes Santas will use hand sanitizers and encourage children to do the same, without turning the experience into a hygiene lecture.

曲奇饼和牛奶都没用，圣诞老人现在想要的是甲流疫苗。

目前，美国很多圣诞老人都想优先接种甲流疫苗，这不只是因为下个月（圣诞节期间）那些流着鼻涕的小孩会坐在他们腿上，这还与他们圆鼓鼓的肚子有关。研究表明肥胖也是感染甲流的一个风险因素。

甲型流感的肆虐引发了众多担忧，为此，“真正长胡子的圣诞老人联合会”还在近日召开的一个研讨会上专门举办了一个有关这一疾病的讲座。该组织还敦促其成员用洗手液洗手，并服用维他命以增强免疫力。

这一美国组织的主席表示，他还希望家长们尽量别带自己生病的孩子外出。

尼古拉斯•特洛里说：“我们不想让孩子们过圣诞看不到圣诞老人，但如果你在孩子生病的时候把他（她）带到商场去，传染了圣诞老人和其他小孩，那就不值了。”

他还讲了去年的一件事，当时一个男孩告诉他说自己发烧在家，不能上学。但他的妈妈却认为正好可以趁这个时间去拜访圣诞老人。

上周，另一个名为“美国圣诞老人”组织的主席欧尼斯特•伯杰请求一位阿拉巴马国会议员作出指示，让圣诞老人享受与医疗工作者和婴儿护理员的同等待遇，优先接种甲流疫苗。

共和党代表佐伊•勃纳尔的发言人证实了伯杰的这一请求，并称工作人员正在研究这一事项。

伯杰希望圣诞老人在洗手时使用洗手液，并鼓励孩子们也这么做，这样就不用以说教的形式来向孩子们传输卫生知识了。