Resources and CDC Guidance
Home and Family
Protection
There are four things you can do right now to protect your family from spreading the flu.
- Get vaccinated for seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu when vaccines are available.
- Stay home if you or your child is sick for at least 24 hours after there is no longer a fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit) or signs of a fever (chills, feel very warm, flushed appearance, or sweating).
- Practice good hand hygiene by washing hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Wash the hands of children who cannot yet wash themselves.
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your elbow or shoulder; not into your hands. Teach your children how to do this.
Recognize if your children are sick
Symptoms of flu include fever or chills and cough or sore throat. In addition, symptoms of flu can include runny nose, body aches, headache, tiredness, diarrhea, and vomiting. Some children may not be able to tell you about their symptoms. It is important to recognize unusual behavior in your child, which may be a sign they are sick.
A fever is a temperature measured by mouth with a thermometer that is equal to or greater than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are not able to measure a temperature, signs and symptoms that may indicate your child has a fever include chills, feeling very warm to the touch, having a flushed appearance, or sweating.
Care for Sick
When someone has the flu, they should rest as much as possible and drink clear fluids. It is a good idea to keep healthy family members away from the sick ones. If they need to be in the same room, the sick person should wear a mask if available, especially if others are at high risk for complications.
The sick person should use tissues to cover coughs and sneezes and throw them away. Everyone in the house should wash their hands often. The caregiver should monitor the sick person for emergency warning signs such as difficulty breathing, refusing to drink liquids, dizziness or confusion.
Use household disinfectants on items used by the sick person to help prevent the spread of the flu to other household members. Do not let a sick person return to child care, school or work until 24 hours after the fever is gone without using fever-reducing medicines.
Additional information about caring for sick household members can be found at www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/guidance_homecare.htm.
Have a plan in case your child care or school is closed
Information for pet owners
It is very unlikely that dogs, cats, or horses would become infected with this virus.
It may be possible for a pet monkey (nonhuman primate) and for pet swine to become infected with this new virus from a human. For more information on how to protect your pet swine, please visit the following websites:
Please visit http://www.cdc.gov/flu for national updates on flu information. Information on flu activity in Arizona can be found at http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/oids/epi/flu/index.htm
Note: A number of the links on this page are PDF files and require Acrobat Reader™ to view. |
