It’s important that everyone takes the appropriate measures to stop the spread of influenza.
There are a number of preventative actions you can do to protect yourself and others around you:
- Get vaccinated each year
- Try to avoid close contact with people who are sick
- If you are sick with a flu-like illness, stay at home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone, and limit close contact with other people if you can avoid it
- Cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze
- Wash your hands often with soap and water
- Clean and disinfect surfaces that may be contaminated with germs like the flu.
Did you know?
Influenza is highly contagious and can spread easily amongst members in a household. A 2014 survey of 113 unvaccinated parents who had the flu, found that:
- • 26% believed that they had passed on the flu to a family member
• 40% stated that their child had missed at least one day of school
• 11% still had to pay for unused childcare due to flu.
Influenza can take you out of action at home and in the office. In the USA, a study reported 21% of absenteeism from work for employees who have children aged 17 years or below is attributable to influenza-like-illness in either the employee or their household member.
Children under 5 years of age are at higher risk of complications from influenza, including hospitalisation and even death:
- Vaccination against influenza can reduce children’s risk of contracting influenza and potentially minimise the spread of the virus, protecting family and friends as well.
In 2017:
- >25,000 children aged <5 years were impacted by influenza
- Two children under five years of age died from influenza in NSW.
