Keeping your family healthy during flu season is important as the colder weather starts to set in. Flu tends to spike later in the year, but October is typically when many people go ahead and get the flu vaccination. This should protect you from several strains of the flu so that if you do catch it, your symptoms won’t be as serious or long-term. Hand washing is always a great way to protect yourself from germs. In addition, keeping your distance when you’re inside from other people and avoiding handshaking can help. Always stay home if you are having any symptoms of the flu so that you don’t spread it to others. And of course, your flu shot is the best protection against many strains of the flu. Hopefully, you and your family will stay healthy all season long.
Keeping Your Family Healthy During Flu Season: Stay Well as Cold Weather Approaches
Hand Washing
Hand washing is an important way to protect yourself and others during flu season. It can stop the spread of many germs, not just the flu. Make sure that you wash your hands with warm water and soap and that you scrub for at least 20 seconds. Always wash all surfaces of your hands, between your fingers, around, and under your nails. You should wash your hands before eating, before touching your face, or after using the restroom.
Social Distancing
Social distancing is another precaution that you can take that will help protect you and your family during flu season. Especially if you
work in tight quarters with others. If anybody is showing symptoms, keep a safe distance between you. It’s also a good idea to avoid shaking hands during flu season as it’s an easy way to pass germs from one person to another.
Stay Home with Symptoms
Staying home when you show any symptoms of the flu is a great way to protect the rest of your community during flu season. If you are experiencing nausea, fever, chills, coughing, sore throat, or a lot of congestion, it’s best to stay home. Wait until you are symptom-free for at least 24 hours. If everybody were able to do this, we could cut down a lot on all sorts of seasonal illnesses.
Flu Shot
Finally, the best protection you can give yourself and your family is to get the flu vaccine each year. Every year, the vaccine is tweaked so that it can fight at least 4 of the most common strains of flu that are predicted to be the most severe that season. The flu vaccine can prevent you from getting those strains altogether and can mitigate your symptoms if you happen to catch other strains of the flu. Your symptoms will likely be less severe and last a shorter time than those who do not get the vaccine and who catch the flu.
Staying healthy during flu season can be difficult since so many different germs tend to go around at once. However, most of these measures can help prevent flu and also other common illnesses. Stomach viruses, colds, and even COVD-19 can be mitigated by social distancing, masking, hand-washing, and quarantining. Social distancing and avoiding hand-shakes can help prevent you from catching illnesses. Staying home when you do have symptoms is the best way you can protect others. And finally, the flu vaccine is great protection against many strains of the flu. Some flu seasons are worse than others, and hopefully, this year’s will not be severe. However, everybody needs to do their part in making that happen by protecting themselves and their families from flu and other germs.
