Flu season is just around the corner, which means it’s time to start thinking about getting the flu vaccine and taking the necessary flu season precautions to protect yourself from the dreaded flu bug. Making sure you’re ahead of the game is important for your entire family, but it’s especially important for seniors and infants.
Here are a few tips to help you make it through this year:
Stay in Your Own Bubble
Be mindful of your own personal space — and others. Flu germs can be spread to one another just by breathing, so try to avoid close contact with people who are sick or have mentioned they have a sick family member. And, when you’re sick, offer the same courtesy to others, keeping your distance.
Stay Home
If you haven’t been feeling well, try your best to stay home from work and ask family or friends to help with your errands. Keeping yourself–and your germs–confined will help prevent spreading your illness to others. This is especially important for seniors whose immune systems tend to get weaker as they age.
Cover Your Mouth & Nose
Feel a sneeze or cough coming on? Cover your mouth or nose with a tissue. Providing that barrier can deter your germs from flying around in the air, and can prevent others around from getting sick. If you or someone else has a more severe respiratory illness, like the flu, whooping cough, or severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), know that these types of illnesses are spread by cough, sneezing, or unclean hands. Also, what may appear to be a normal cold or flu in adults could actually be respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can be very harmful to infants.
Wash Your Hands Often
Ensuring you keep your hands stay clean is crucial during flu season. Unfortunately, our hands tend to be a breeding ground for germs. Think about it, we use our hands for everything–potentially touching thousands of things each day. Take the time to wash your hands in soap and water as often as you can. If soap and water aren’t available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Follow this technique for proper hand washing: https://www.cdc.gov/cdctv/healthyliving/hygiene/fight-germs-wash-hands.html.
Limit Touching Your Eyes, Nose & Mouth
When germs enter our body, it’s typically done when our hands touch our eyes, nose or mouth. Keeping your hands clean can help, but you will want to make sure you limit or avoid touching your face–especially if you’ve been out among people.
Disinfect the House
Life’s busy. We get it. But, during flu season, it’s best to clean/disinfect our homes as frequently as we can. Short on time? Consider picking up disinfectant spray and/or wipes to quickly wipe off countertops and other household surfaces, and spray door knobs.
Implement a Healthy Lifestyle & Get Some Rest
Believe it or not, the food we take in can actually help boost our immune systems, so consider drinking more fluids and eating fresh foods–like fruits and veggies–because they are packed with powerful vitamins and minerals that can help fight off infection. It’s also important to get plenty of sleep, as sleep deprivation can weaken the immune system. Add in a nice mix of physical activity, and you have the recipe to help boost your immune system.
This can be a bit more difficult for seniors. So, if you have an elderly loved one, make sure you check on them during the colder months to ensure they are eating and drinking water like they should be. If you’re headed out to the mall for the day, ask them to join you, so they can get in some physical exercise as well.
Get Flu Vaccine ASAP
Finally, considering getting yourself and your family the flu vaccine. Most insurances will cover the majority–if not all–costs associated with the flu vaccine, since it’s preventative. The sooner you can get the vaccine the better because it can take up to two weeks for antibodies to develop enough to provide protection. The antibodies your body creates are what helps you to fight off the germs in your system. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends anyone over 6 months old to receive the vaccine.
At Charles Ford Retirement Community, we are partnering with our consulting/house pharmacy, Paul’s Pharmacy Evansville, to provide flu vaccinations to staff and residents. Our scheduled flu clinic day this year is October 2nd.
