Action Steps for Parents to Protect Your Child and Family

from the Flu this School Year

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends 4 main ways you and your family may keep from getting sick with the flu at school and at home:

1.  Practice good hand hygiene by washing your hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

2. 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.

3. Stay home if you or your child is sick for at least 24 hours after there is no longer a fever or signs of a fever (without the use of fever-reducing medicine). Keeping sick students at home means that they keep their viruses to themselves rather than sharing them with others.

4. Get your family vaccinated for seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu when vaccines are available.

Action Steps for Parents of Children at High Risk for

Flu Complications

1. •Keep children at high risk for flu complications from getting sick with the flu
   

1. •Make sure your child’s hands are washed for 20 seconds with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub often and especially after coughing or sneezing.
   

1. •Have your child cough and sneeze into a tissue or into his or her elbow or shoulder if a tissue is not available.
   

1. •Keep your child away from people who are sick.
   

1. •Clean surfaces and objects that your child frequently touches with cleaning agents that are usually used.
   

1. •When there is flu in your community, consider your child’s risk of exposure if they attend public gatherings. In communities with a lot of flu, people who are at risk of complications from flu should consider staying away from public gatherings.
   

1. •If flu is severe in your community, talk to your doctor and child’s school to develop a plan on how to handle your child’s special needs.
   

1. •Get your child vaccinated for seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu when vaccines are available.