Flu Prevention Tips

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/preventing.htm

The single best way to prevent the flu is to get vaccinated each fall, but good health habits and antiviral medications are other measures that can help protect against the flu.

Vaccination

The single best way to protect against the flu is to get vaccinated each fall.

• Key Facts About Flu Vaccine
  Types of vaccination, when to get vaccinated, who should get vaccinated...
• Find a Flu Shot
  Electronic influenza vaccine clinic locator
• Children 6 to 23 Months
  In 2004, CDC recommended that all children 6 months to 23 months old get a flu shot....
• People with HIV/AIDS
  People with HIV/AIDS are considered at increased risk from serious influenza-related complications...
• Q & A: Flu Vaccine
  How vaccines work, flu shot, nasal-spray vaccine (LAIV)…
• Schools, Childcare Providers, and Parents
  Resources preventing the flu

Good Health Habits

Good health habits are also an important way to help prevent the Flu.

Learn more at Stopping the Spread of Germs at Home, Work & School and in our Flu Prevention Toolkit: Real People. Real Solutions.

• Avoid close contact.
  Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.
• Stay home when you are sick.
  If possible, stay home from work, school, and errands when you are sick. You will help prevent others from catching your illness.
• Cover your mouth and nose.
  Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick.
• Clean your hands.
  Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
  Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.

Cover Your Cough

Stop the Spread of Germs that Make You and Others Sick!

Serious respiratory illnesses like influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), whooping cough, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are spread by:

• Coughing or sneezing
• Unclean hands

To help stop the spread of germs,

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
• If you don't have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hands.
• Put your used tissue in the waste basket.

Clean your hands after coughing or sneezing.

• Wash with soap and water.
• Clean with alcohol-based hand cleaner.

Note: You may be asked to put on a surgical mask to protect others.

Medications

Three antiviral drugs (amantadine, rimantadine, and oseltamivir) are approved for use in preventing the flu. These are prescription medications, and a doctor should be consulted before they are used. Also, please note the January 14, 2006 CDC Health Alert Notice (HAN), in which CDC recommends that neither amantadine nor rimantadine be used for the treatment or prevention (prophylaxis) of influenza A in the United States for the remainder of the 2005-06 influenza season.

• Antiviral Drugs and the Flu
  Detailed information about Antivirals