SALEM, Ore. – Should you take your kids to children’s museums, and other public places where they touch everything and possibly expose them to the H1N1 virus?

The H1N1 virus, commonly known has the swine flu, can live on hard surfaces for up to eight hours.

Public health officials haven’t issued any restrictions keeping children from group settings because they say the swine flu is circulating so quickly.

But Dr. Karen Landers with Marion County Public Health says places like children’s museums do pose a risk for transferring the flu virus.

“Certainly parents who have children who have risk factors for complications from the flu might want to consider not taking their children into those settings until they’ve been vaccinated and been able to build up their immunity,” she says.

At A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village in Salem many exhibits encourage children to touch things and Kim Baldwin of the museum says “We are using cleaners that take care of Type A and Type B bacteria on all of the exhibits on a daily basis.”

She says the children’s museum does what it can to keep children safe by recognizing that they can pick up the flu virus from many other places.

“If children are in public school they’re going to be contacting other children at all times that are exposed to the cold and flu virus,” Baldwin says. “So obviously there is no way you’re going to keep your child safe.”

The bottom line is if your child is healthy and is not in a high-risk group, go ahead and bring them to places like the children’s museum. But just remember to have them wash their hands.