The Flu: A Guide For Parents

Flu season is fast approaching. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone six months and older receive a flu vaccine every year as soon as the vaccine becomes available. This is the single, best way to protect yourself and your family.

Good health habits can also help prevent the flu:

· Stay home/keep your child home if they are ill. Your child should be symptom free for > 24 hours before returning to school. Symptoms include a fever of 100 degrees or greater (must be fever free without using Tylenol, Advil, Etc.), vomiting, diarrhea, and other symptoms of contagious illness (always consult your school nurse with any questions)

· Avoid close contact with people who are ill

· Wash your hands often and keep alcohol-based hand cleaners accessible to use when soap and water are not available

· Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth as much as possible

· Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or with the inside of your elbow

· Exercise regularly, get plenty of rest and eat healthy, balanced meals

Flu illness can be serious. Let’s clear up some issues that discourage people from getting vaccinated (CDC https://www.cdc.gov/features/flu/index.html):

· A flu vaccine cannot give you flu. The most common side effects from a flu shot are soreness, redness and/or swelling where the shot was given, fever, and/or muscle aches. These side effects are NOT flu. If you do experience side effects, they are usually mild and short-lived, especially when compared to symptoms from a bad case of flu.

· Flu vaccines are among the safest medical products in use. Hundreds of millions of Americans have safely received flu vaccines over the past 50 years. Extensive research supports the safety of flu vaccines. CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) closely monitor the safety of vaccines approved for use in the U.S.

In order for the flu vaccine to be most effective you should get vaccinated before flu begins spreading in your community. It takes approximately two weeks after vaccination for your body to develop flu protection. Here are links to where you can get your flu vaccine locally:

https://vaccinefinder.org/

http://www.middlesexcountynj.gov/Government/Departments/PSH/Documents/2018-2019%20flu%20clinics%20local.pdf

Sherri Lapp, BSN, RN, CSN-NJ

Kennedy Elementary School Nurse

10/2018 Please do not share without permission from the author.