Tips for Staying Healthy During Cold and Flu Season

As winter approaches, so does cold and flu season. Here are some tips you can use to protect yourself and help limit the spread of illness:

1. Avoid close contact.
Avoid close contact with people who are ill. When you are ill, keep your distance from others to protect them from becoming ill, too.

2. Stay home when you are ill.
If possible, stay home from work, school and doing errands when you are ill. You will help prevent others from catching your illness. If you have flu symptoms, please contact your physician. Flu symptoms include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Other possible symptoms include nausea, vomiting, body aches, headaches, runny nose, congestion and diarrhea.

3. Cover your mouth and nose.
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from becoming ill.

4. Clean your hands often.
Washing your hands often will help protect you from spreading germs. Hand sanitizer can help protect you from germs as well. All Heartland offices have hand sanitizer on hand for your use. We also have replacement pumps and eight gallons of additional sanitizer on hand at the Johnston office. If your local supply of hand sanitizer is getting low or you need a new pump, please contact Carolyn Jones in Human Resources at cjones@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14614 to request a replacement.

5. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose or mouth.

6. Practice other good health habits.
Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids and eat nutritious food. These steps will help maintain a strong immune system that is ready to fight infection.

7. Get vaccinated.
The September 26 edition of The Connection listed your options for getting the flu vaccine. To learn about the vaccine for the 2010-2011 flu season, visit http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/fluvax_whatsnew.htm. Please note that there is no separate vaccination for the H1N1 strain this year. This year’s flu vaccine will protect against the H1N1 virus that caused so much illness last season, and no separate vaccination for H1N1 is needed.