Telethon 2020: The Kiddy Canter program is helping kids put up a good clean fight against dangerous infections

While the world grapples against COVID-19, breaking the chain of an infection has been the sole focus of one Perth organisation since it was founded in 2012.

The Amanda Young Foundation Support works to support research, raise awareness of and reduce deaths from meningococcal disease.

Since the global pandemic, the simple messages of hygiene - the foundation has been sharing for years - has been at the forefront of the virus fight.

Like COVID-19, Meningococcal Disease does discriminate against age, race, gender or health.

The bacterial infection that can make people critically ill and can kill within hours.

While anyone can been affected, the most at-risk category is children 0-5, followed by adolescents and young adults.

That’s why the organisation foundered their Kiddy Canter program, that helps educate children early about the importance of not sharing water bottles, washing hands and coughing or sneezing into their elbow to avoid the spread of bacteria.

The initiative is one that has drawn the attention of Telethon for another year.

Kiddy Canter aims to teach important basic hygiene practices to children at Early Learning Centres, Kindergartens and Pre-primaries.

Parents are provided with information on the signs and symptoms of meningococcal sepsis and meningitis.

The centre produces a educational coloured book annually to read to children, which all contain the same health messages just based around another theme.

This year’s theme, the centre’s seventh production, will be ‘the doctor comes to town’.

“It fits in with "staying home when you're sick" which I never thought would be so appropriate today with Covid19,” Education Program Manager Deanna Howell said.

Perth five year-old twins Nate Hadley and Lachlan Hadley are just one of the many student who have taken part in the educational program and received two of the books, which are generally given out in August to child care centres and pre-primaries.