Flu activity is increasing and germs may be making their way around your town. Thankfully, there are precautions you can take to ensure that those pesky germs don’t find you. Check out these 8 preventative flu tips:
  1. Get vaccinated: The CDC recommends that anyone over the age of 6 months be vaccinated by the end of October. Vaccination is the most important step in preventing the flu. Patient First offers flu shots every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and you may walk into any center to receive one.
  2. Avoid close contact: Avoid any close contact with someone who has the flu. This also means avoiding close contact with others if you are sick to help prevent the spread of germs.
  3. Stay home if you are sick: Take the day off! If you are feeling under the weather, stay home and rest. This will not only benefit you, but it will keep others around you from getting sick. The CDC recommends that you stay home for 24 hours after fever subsides without the use of fever-reducing medicines.
  4. Cover your mouth: Use a tissue when coughing and sneezing. Be sure to cover both your nose and mouth to prevent the spread of germs. If you don’t have a tissue handy, you can use your sleeve to help stop the spread of germs.
  5. Wash your hands: Make a habit of washing your hands multiple times throughout the day to help protect you from germs. Use soap and warm water, or an alcohol-based hand rub if soap is not available, and wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. Singing “Happy Birthday” through twice is long enough to do the trick!
  6. Avoid touching your nose, eyes, and mouth: Germs are commonly spread through touching a contaminated surface and then touching your face.
  7. Practice good health habits: Eat a balanced diet and get plenty of sleep and exercise. Living a healthy lifestyle will help your body fight off germs.
  8. Clean and disinfect: Wipe down frequently touched areas in your home and workplace. This will help prevent the spread of germs and keep you healthy.
Flu-like symptoms include fever, sore throat, cough, runny nose, headache, body aches, chills, and fatigue. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, don’t wait. Visit your local health care provider as soon as possible. You may walk into any Patient First center from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. to be examined by a physician and receive a flu test. To find a center near you, visit out locations page.

Related Articles

We would love to learn what would be helpful on this page for you.

Articles by tag

2020 4th-of-July aberdeen ACLS AED air-purificaiton allentown Allergies amerigroup announcement Antibiotics anxiety Asthma autumn award awards Back-to-School baltimore baltimore-child baltimore's-child baltimore-sun beach bedside-manner bel-air Best-Of best-of-2019 best-workplace bethlehem Black-Friday blog Blood-Donation BLS blue-cross blue-shield capital-gazette children with disabilities Circadian-Rhythm cold-prevention colon-cancer concussion CPR cramp-prevention Dehydration dental-health depression Dermatitis Diabetes drowning drug screening Dry-Skin eastern-pa easton Eating-Disorders employees Ergonomics E-Scooter exercise eye-health fall fall-sports First-Aid fitness flu Flu-season flu-shots food-storage food-swaps football for moms for-moms for-parents fredericksburg free-play Generation-X-Health gift-ideas Good-Fats Halloween hand foot and mouth Hand-Washing Hanukkah harrisburg Head-Lice health-history health-symptoms healthy-eating healthy-living healthy-swaps heart-health Heat heat-safety hiking holiday Holidays horizonBCBS horizon-blue-cross horizon-blue-shield horizon-insurance Humidifier inclusivity inclusivity-&-accessability injury-prevention insurance jetlag Kidney Kwanzaa lehigh-valley life-support-class lyme maryland meal-prep mechanicsburg medical-records melanoma memory-retention Men's-Health Mental-Health millennial montco montco-pa montgomery-county montgomery-county-pa Movember myths new jersey new-center new-jersey new-year northern-va northern-virginia nova nurtition Nutrition occupational health osteoporosis outdoors PALS parent tips parenting-tips parent-tips patient-first pennsylvania pets philadelphia philly physicals poison-ivy poison-prevention Pregnancy primary care probiotics pumpkin recipe recipes registration reicpes Resolutions richmond Running safety safety-tips school-nurse services Setting-Goals shin-splings sick kid Sickness-Prevention skin sleep Smoke-Detector smoking soccer sore-throat south-jersey sports sports-physicals Spring spring-cleaning Stitches strep Strep-Throat stress stress-managment Stroke summer summer-sports sun-safety sunscreen TBI Teal-Pumpkin Teething tick ticks tips-for-parents top-physicians top-workplace traveling-tips travel-tips unitedhealthcare urgent-care vacation vaccinations vaccines Valentines-Day volunteering washington-dc washington-post washington-post-2019 wellness winter yard-work Yearly-Physical