MADISON, Wis. -- Concerns about the H1N1 flu virus are growing as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announces that children are being hit particularly hard.

The CDC said Thursday that older children -- between ages 5 and 17 -- are at greatest risk for H1N1 influenza, or the so-called "swine flu."

It's a reversal from the groups traditionally most at risk for seasonal influenza -- children under 5 and the elderly -- and the news has those who care for school-age children gearing up to deal with H1N1.

At Once Upon a Time Child Care in Verona, frequent hand washing is always encouraged.

"We've been talking to kids all summer long about hand washing at every age level," said Ann Schmidtz, owner of Once Upon a Time Child Care.

Schmidtz estimated that children and staff at the center wash their hands between eight and 12 times a day. The state requires hand washing for children and workers before eating anything, after diaper change and bathroom use and after any messy activity.

Schmidtz said she is preparing her staff, and preparing policies, in case she sees H1N1 cases at the center.

"(If children have) fevers of 101 or above, they have to go home. They have to be home for 24 hours until the fever is clear; that helps a lot. As soon as we see something like that starting, we send kids home," Schmidtz said. "We're going to be really enforcing that with families this year, that if there are any flu-like signs or symptoms, they need to keep their kids home."

Schmidtz said the center is also taking extra steps to teach children to sneeze into a tissue or their elbows instead of their hands, which doctors say helps stop the spread of germs.

A couple of parents who spoke with WISC-TV said they were concerned about the safety of the new H1N1 vaccine, but health experts said it's important for children to get vaccinated because some cases H1N1 influenza will be severe.

"In my mind, the benefits of the vaccine strongly outweigh any possible risk of the vaccine," said Dr. Ellen Wald, a pediatric infectious disease expert with UW Health.

Wald said parents of mostly healthy children should not panic over this latest news, noting that the majority of children who suffered severely or died as a result of H1N1 had already compromised immune systems. But she also pointed out that there's relatively little data because this is all still so new.

Wald said that frequent hand washing is very important to help prevent the spread of H1N1.