Flu season is upon us.
This means body aches, vomiting, headaches, and all sorts of other symptoms that can cause us and our family members to become incapacitated. This year, a lot of people have been saying it’s one of the worst years for the flu in a long time. Part of this reasoning is the ineffectiveness of the vaccine. According to an interview between National Geographic and physicians, the vaccine is produced and grown in chicken eggs, but this year, the virus mutated during incubation and became only 30% effective. Even though the vaccine isn’t as effective as in previous years, it’s still a good idea to get the flu shot. If you do contract the virus after having the flu shot, your symptoms may not be as bad as they would be if you didn’t have the flu shot. Another reason this flu epidemic is so nasty this year is the strain, H2N3 is not as pervasive. This means people haven’t had exposure to it before and are therefore not immune to the illness. But there are some things you can do to avoid the flu.
So what can you do?
Although this flu season seems especially terrible, there are steps you can take to protect yourself and your family about the flu. Share this post to keep others in your community aware of flu prevention tips to increase your chances of avoiding the flu!
Get the flu shot!
For starters, go get the flu shot. As already stated, it can help you avoid symptoms or mitigate the severity of symptoms. But there are other things you can do to help protect against the flu.
Wash your hands
After touching communal surfaces, always wash your hands. If you can’t get a hold of soap and water, keep an alcohol based hand sanitizer on your person. It can be a lot more convenient than going to the bathroom every five minutes.
Sanitize
The next thing to do to avoid the flu is to sanitize heavily used objects in your home such as cell phones, door knobs and light switches. Disinfecting children’s toys with disinfectant wipes or bleach is also a good idea. If there are things you can’t sanitize that have heavy hand traffic, just avoid it. Office spaces sometimes have shared candy dishes and other communal areas where disinfecting isn’t a possibility. So stay out of that candy dish and maybe wear gloves if you absolutely have to use the communal spaces.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth
Even though a lot of people are conscientious about washing their hands during flu season, we still get exposed and don’t even know it. That’s why it’s important to keep your hands away from your face.
Get some sleep and relaxation
Sleep is important to help reboot your immune system which will help fight off the flu if you do get exposed to it. It’s also important to have some designated “me time” to avoid stress. The stress hormone cortisol can affect your immune system and make it easier to catch colds and viruses.
Keep your distance
Stay away from infected people! We know. This one seems pretty obvious, but it can be harder than you think. Sick partners and children just beg for attention and while we know you’re going to want to comfort them, it won’t help if you get sick, too. If someone in your family catches the flu, keep them confined to a room away from the main living area of your home. You should also have a designated person delivering medications, food and other items to the infected person to minimize chances of another infection.
Gregory wants to help spread public awareness of cold and flu transmission to help keep our customers and communities safe and healthy. For other lifestyle tips, visit our blog! And stay healthy.