Preventive Measures

One of the most cost-effective ways employers can lower absenteeism and reduce the need for physician office visits is to provide annual employee flu shots. Our Health & Wellness professionals can come to your work site and administer flu shots, providing convenient access and assurance that your employees are protected. 

Take our Flu Quiz!

Take a look at the influenza virus under a microscope, and you'll see a funny-looking spiked ball, much like the famous Russian satellite Sputnik. But if you've ever been flat on your back with the flu, you know there's nothing funny about this highly contagious virus. Test your savvy by taking this quiz.

Other Prevention Steps

Flu viruses are spread by contact with droplets sneezed or coughed from an infected person. Inhaling the droplets is the most common route to getting the flu, but many people also become infected by touching objects on which droplets have landed. You can spread the virus to others before you feel sick yourself. The CDC says you are infectious a day before symptoms begin and up to five days afterward.

You can protect yourself against the flu by doing simple things like washing your hands before eating and not putting your hands near your face or in your mouth. You don't need special cleansers when washing your hands; washing for at least 20 seconds with ordinary soap works fine. If someone in your family has the flu, you can keep surfaces clean of the virus by wiping them with a solution of one part bleach to 10 parts water.

The other effective means of flu prevention is humidity. The flu bug exists in higher quantities in dry nasal and oral passages, which is one reason why flu epidemics occur in dry winter months. By raising the humidity in your workplace and at home to keep your nasal passages and mouth moist, your body will be better able to flush out the flu bug.

Rooting Out Rumors

Don't believe the rumor that a flu shot can give you even a mild case of influenza. It is impossible. Neither form of the vaccine--by injection or nasal spray--contains a form of the flu virus that can give you the flu. The injected form of the vaccine is made from particles of dead flu virus cells, and the nasal spray contains live viruses that have been damaged so they can't cause a major infection.

When you are injected with the flu vaccine, your body reacts as if it has been infected with the actual living virus and makes antibodies that provide immunity against the real virus. These antibodies remain at high levels for only six to nine months. These waning antibody levels are one reason why you need to be revaccinated each year.

The main reason you should be revaccinated yearly is the flu virus is constantly changing and evolving into new strains. Each year the CDC attempts to predict which flu strain will be predominant. The CDC works with vaccine manufacturers to produce the specific vaccine that will combat the predicted strain.