Rappin’ The Swine Flu Away

BOSTON — If rap music can get people to wash their hands more frequently, why not also use it to help children avoid the swine flu?

Dr. Mache Seibel, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, has made a music video doing just that.

His “H1N1 rap” is now making the rounds on — where else? — YouTube.

In it, the balding, mild-mannered-looking Dr. Seibel, aka “DocRock,” raps and dances in his hospital scrubs along with a group of young kids.

His goal is to use music as a fun, memorable way to help prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus among children. And if some adults get the message, too, all the better.

Dr. Seibel’s video is reminiscent of the “Cal Stat rap,” a song made by a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital — and highlighted in a WBUR story — as a cutesy way to get the hospital’s staff to improve their hand-washing rates.