Tackling Influenza

Healthy Decisions This Flu Season

By Dr. Aneema Van Groenou

Children can be exposed in many ways, such as by contact with "sniffly" family members, by a clerk's sneeze at the grocery store, by playing with ill children at daycare or by picking up a sister's used tissue.

People are most contagious in the 24 hours right before they become ill, so they don't even know they're spreading the infection. That's why it's hard to avoid getting the flu, especially during flu season.

It can be hard to tell who is contagious since they probably don't even have any symptoms. So the best way to prevent the flu is to be cautious all the time. Is this hard to do? Not at all.

And, as a doctor in the Emergency Department and in a Pediatric Urgent Care Clinic, I should know, since I see runny nose after runny nose. Not only do I have to avoid getting sick myself, I have to avoid spreading illness from patient to patient.

Any doctor will tell you that they use "universal precautions," meaning they think about preventing the spread of infection all the time. The rules are simple:

• Wash your hands often.
• Cover your mouth when coughing and then wash your hands.
• Cover your mouth while sneezing and then wash your hands.
• After blowing your nose, throw the tissue away yourself and then wash your hands.
• If in doubt, wash your hands again!

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