Tips for Preventing/Fighting the Flu

Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Flu / Cold / SARS
Article Date: 27 Nov 2004 - 15:00 PDT

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The first cases of the flu in Minnesota are usually reported in November and December and continue through May, with the most intense outbreaks in January and February. The first cases have already been reported in Minnesota and Wisconsin this month.

Here are some tips for protecting yourself against the flu and lessening the symptoms if you do get it.

-- Preventing the flu

- Flu vaccinations are the best defense against the flu, but because of the vaccine shortage this year, only at-risk individuals should get them.

- Keep your distance from people who have the flu. And stay home if you're sick. You're contagious even before you show symptoms and for 3-5 days after the symptoms appear.

- Use a tissue when you cough or sneeze

- Wash your hands often

- Maintain a healthy lifestyle: Avoid smoking and second-hand smoke, eat healthful foods, drink plenty of water, exercise regularly, get enough sleep, reduce stress.

-- Treating the symptoms

- Get lots of rest and stay away from other people

- Drink at least six cups of clear fluids daily

- Take over-the-counter aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen to relieve fever, headache and muscle aches (Do not give aspirin to children and teens under age 20). Saline nose drops or nasal decongestants are also useful.

- Raise the humidity in your home (use a humidifier or sit in the bathroom with hot shower running)

- Sleep with your head elevated

- Gargle with salt water (1/4 teaspoon salt in eight ounces of warm water) or suck on hard candy to relieve a sore throat

-- See your doctor if

- You are at-risk for serious complications from the flu

- You have a fever of 104 degrees or higher

- Your symptoms get worse after three to five days, especially fever or cough

- You are coughing up blood or thick mucus

- You develop chest pain, facial swelling, earache or severe pain in the face or forehead

- You develop painful or difficult breathing, wheezing or difficulty swallowing

- Your symptoms don't improve after seven days

- Your symptoms are not gone after 14 days

- Your child becomes unresponsive or has a fever lasting longer than 72 hours

-- What about antibiotics? Antibiotics fight bacterial infections; they simply don't work on viral infections like the flu. Two older prescription anti-viral medications stop the virus from multiplying in the body, thus lessening the severity and duration of the flu. But they work only if administered within the first 48 hours of infection.

-- About the flu: The flu is a contagious viral disease that affects the lungs, throat and nose with sudden symptoms affecting the whole body: high fever, headache, chills, muscle aches, cough and sore throat, etc, lasting from one to three weeks. The flu strikes an estimated 10-20 percent of the population each year and causes approximately 36,000 deaths and 114,000 hospitalizations each year in the U.S.

It can cause pneumonia and other serious complications, especially for people over 50 years of age or those suffering from diabetes, chronic heart and lung problems, kidney disease, anemia and other blood disorders, and those with suppressed immune systems.

Pregnant women who will be beyond their first trimester during flu season and those with other risk conditions also have an increased risk of flu complications for themselves and their babies.

The vaccinations are 70-90 percent effective in protecting against the flu, but because the viruses mutate rapidly, a new shot is required each year.

The flu vaccine is in short supply for the 2004-2005 flu season. Because of the shortage, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends that healthy adults not receive flu shots at this time. Flu shots are reserved for vulnerable people, such as babies and toddlers, people over the age of 65 and those with chronic health conditions

-- Visit Blue Cross' Web site at http://blueprint.bluecrossmn.com/topic/flu for more information about the flu.

With headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota's first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission: to promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota. A not-for-profit, taxable organization, Blue Cross is the largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering more than 2.6 million members in Minnesota and nationally through its health plans or plans administered by its affiliated companies. It is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago.

http://blueprint.bluecrossmn.com/topic/flu

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