News Swine Flu may seem scary but avoiding the flu is not as hard as you might think. The ways to go about stopping the flu in its tracks are not sexy or sensational. If you want to protect yourself, your co-workers and family it is, like most foundational health practices, as easy as following
some very simple rules consistently.
Take these steps to avoid contagion and stop the virus' spread to keep you and those around you from getting the flu:
Wash your hands. Use warm soapy water and a vigorous lather of 20 seconds or more. If you are using hand sanitizer, a splash won't do it! 20 seconds of vigorous rubbing with a sanitizer made of at least 60% alcohol will do the trick. Anything else and you are pretty much just rubbing germs around.
Cover your cough. Sneeze and cough into the crook of your elbow or a tissue. Avoid touching your eyes and nose and then touching other surfaces without first washing your hands (see above). Or better yet avoid touching surfaces that others will contact, if you are sick and thinking about coming in to work....DON'T.
Don't be a hero. Coming in to work sick is not good for the bottom line. You might feel that the working world will stop turning without you and your boss will notice what a trooper you are as you sit sniffling at your desk.
The truth is that your work quality suffers when you are sick and worse yet
you might be passing the bug along to co-workers and their families - inadvertently putting immune suppressed people at risk and certainly causing others to miss work. So as tempting as it is to feel like you are taking one for the team, the best thing you can do is stay home when you are sick.
Get a vaccine. Flue vaccines are cheap (under $30) and many employers provide them for free. If you have children, elderly or immune compromised loved ones then getting a vaccine will also ensure that you create a protective buffer and avoid infecting those most at risk.
Take care of yourself. Take vitamin D, get plenty of sleep, stay hydrated and take extra time to do the little things that protect your health and beef up your immunity. If you do get the flu, stay home and give yourself time to fully mend in order to avoid infecting others.
