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I’ve decided to go ahead and do an article on flu season prevention tip’s because the flu
is horrible this year, there have been 63 kid’s killed from it so far this year. That is 63
too many! Most of my family have gotten it this year, I have tried my hardest to keep the bug
out of my house and so far it has worked.
What different strains of the Flu are there?
There are four type’s of the flu: A, B, C and D. The one’s we have to worry about are A and
B. Type c can cause mild respiratory infection’s, type D affect’s cattle and doesn’t usually
affect human’s.
Type A viruses are divided into subcategories based on the two types of proteins that are
on the surface of the virus. The (H) “hemagglutinin” and the (N) “Neuraminidase”, there are
18 different H subcategories and 11 of the N categories.
The type B virus aren’t divided down, but they have lineages and strain’s. Currently the
most active belong to either B/Yamagata or B/Victoria.
source: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/viruses/types.htm
What you can do to limit the chances of contracting the Flu?
Washing your hands with soap and hot water are the easiest way’s to prevent catching it.
You want to make sure you scrub your hands and fingernail’s real good to be able to get a
good washing. You can also pick up some face mask’s from your local store, they would be
in the hardware section, I have not been able to find any around the pharmacy section though.
One thing that I have a hard time breaking the habit of is rubbing my eye’s or scratching
my face, but if you can stop rubbing your eye’s and touching your face as much as you can, you
can cut the chances of getting it. One thing that I have heard about, is to get some
triple antibiotic ointment and put some on a Q-Tip and apply it to the inside of each nostril,
the component’s of the ointment can block out most viruses. Although I have never done this,
I have heard that it work’s.
You will want to start mopping your floor’s and vacuuming your carpet and rug’s at least once
a week, this will help keep other bug’s from getting to your family as well, and it’ll keep
the house smelling fresh. You can take your shoe’s off and set them by the door when you
come home, that way you wont track any bug’s throughout the house. Be sure to wipe down your
counter-top’s and all the door handle’s even the one on the fridge, I know kid’s have a habit
of sneezing into their hand’s then go get them something from the fridge, that’s a lot of
nastiness haha.
What you can do to quicken the recovery time if you’ve caught the Flu?
You will want to get plenty of rest and drink plenty of fluid’s, this will help break up
congestion, try to stay away from dairy product’s as the enzyme’s in the milk can cause
even more mucus to build up in your throat and chest.
You can also find some honey, if you have about a tablespoon, it can coat your throat
and soothe your cough. You can take a hot steamy shower, the steam can help break up congestion.
You can also use some Elderberry syrup, try to keep your vitamin c level’s up.
Way’s to prepare for the flu season
You should keep a well stocked pantry, that way you wont have to run to the store every other day
and put yourself at risk of being around all the sick people out there shopping. Try to have
some mask’s on hand for when you do have to go to the store, be sure to have a healthy supply
of lysol and bleach, I also keep a package of baby wipe’s in each vehicle, that way I can
clean my hand’s somewhat when I get back out to the car.
Make sure you have plenty of hand soap, you’ll want to wash your hands often. You can get
vaccinated for the flu, the effectiveness of them are about 40% that is because the virus
alway’s changes itself. I know there are a lot of mixed feeling’s about vaccines in general
so I wont go into much more detail than that.
If you don’t already, you will want to clean as often as possible, try to make sure your kid’s
wash their hands as much as possible. You can leave your shoes at the door, that way you wont
track bug’s throughout the house.
I hope you have found these flu season prevention tips useful, I don’t like getting sick, so I do what I can
to try to keep bug’s out. There have been far to many death’s from the flu, we all have to
try to do our part to keep a clean environment for our family’s and neighbor’s, as well as
co-worker’s.