Are You Worried About Family Safety In Flu Season?
Your family is your life and you would do anything to protect those that you love. What can be hard is when things happen that are out of your control and all you can do is hope for the best and do damage control. You can do fire drills and other emergency drills with your family in the name of family safety, but what you can do when it is flu season and a potentially dangerous strain of the flu is going around? At times, there may be nothing you can do, but at times, you can lower everyone’s chances of getting sick by doing a few simple things.
The flu comes along each year and there is always a vaccine that you and your family members can get for family safety reasons. However, anyone under six months is too young for a flu shot. The shot is not always effective, as the flu changes each year and the vaccine will have been made with the flu virus from the year before. These are helpful, but they are not always effective. Getting them is a good idea though, especially if members of your family have immune problems, medical conditions, or are very young or very old. They are not fool-proof but not a bad idea for prevention.
You were probably taught to wash your hands before and after you handle food, after using the restroom, and after you have sneezed or coughed. As for as family safety goes in flu seasons, washing hands is more important than you can imagine. Make sure the water is about hot as you can stand, and soap and scrub for at least thirty seconds if not longer. This goes further than you think in the prevention of germ spread for family safety. If you feel like it, use hand sanitizer when you do not have access to water, or as an extra measure after you have washed your hands. Germs can not go from you to someone else if you have washed them off. Clean after touching eyes, nose, and mouth as well if you are sick.
A good antibacterial soap can go a long way with hand washing and killing germs, but you can also get sprays that do the same things on the surfaces of your home. You may not realize how many germs are located on common surfaces in your home. Take the time, once or twice a day during flu season, to wipe down door handles, faucet handles, keyboards, phones, and other things that everyone in your house touches many times a day. You can use this aspect of family safety all year long if you wish, as this can also prevent the spread of colds and other illnesses that come along.
Family safety in flu season also means knowing when you should stay home. If you have the flu, or anyone in your home as it, stay home, out of school and avoid crowded areas if you must go out. Do what you can to prevent spreading your illness to others. If there is a breakout in your school, keep your kids home if you feel it is for the best, and keep them home if they show symptoms. Make sure they are clear of fever and other symptoms for a few days before they are considered safe again. It may seem extreme, but if you worry, do what you have to do for your own sense of safety.
