Education of patients, family members,
     and visitors by HMC Staff

Symptoms

• fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

• Diarrhea and Vomiting

• Vary in severity from mild to severe. Pneumonia, Respiratory failure and even death is possible .

• Persons with chronic medical conditions, are more likely to develop severe illness.

How Flu Spreads

The main way that influenza viruses are thought to spread is from person to person in respiratory droplets of coughs and sneezes. This can happen when droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person are propelled through the air and deposited on the mouth or nose of people nearby. Influenza viruses may also be spread when a person touches respiratory droplets on another person or an object and then touches their own mouth or nose (or someone else’s mouth or nose) before washing their hands.

People with swine flu who are cared for at home should:

• Check with their health care provider about any special care they might need if they are pregnant or have a health condition such as diabetes, heart disease, asthma, or emphysema
• Check with their health care provider about whether they should take antiviral medications
• Stay home for 7 days after the start of illness and fever is gone
• Get plenty of rest
• Drink clear fluids (such as water, broth, sports drinks, electrolyte beverages for infants) to keep from being dehydrated
• Cover coughs and sneezes. Clean hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub often and especially after using tissues and after coughing or sneezing into hands.
• Avoid close contact with others – do not go to work or school while ill
• Be watchful for emergency warning signs (see below) that might indicate you need to seek medical attention

 

Education of patients, family members, and visitors by HMC Staff

Steps to Lessen the Spread of Flu in the Home

When providing care to a household member who is sick with influenza, the most important ways to protect yourself and others who are not sick are to:

• Keep the sick person away from other people as much as possible (see “placement of the sick person at home”)
• Remind the sick person to cover their coughs, and clean their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub often, especially after coughing and/or sneezing.
• Have everyone in the household clean their hands often, using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub
• Ask your healthcare provider if household contacts of the sick person—particularly those contacts who may have chronic health conditions—should take antiviral medications such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu®) or zanamivir (Relenza®) to prevent the flu.

Placement of the sick person

• Keep the sick person in a room separate from the common areas of the house. (For example, a spare bedroom with its own bathroom, if that’s possible.) Keep the sickroom door closed.
• Unless necessary for medical care, persons with the flu should not leave the home when they have a fever or during the time that they are most likely to spread their infection to others (7 days after onset of symptoms in adults. Children may pass the virus for longer than 7 days).
• If persons with the flu need to leave the home (for example, for medical care), they should cover their nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing and wear a loose-fitting (surgical) mask if available.
• Have the sick person wear a surgical mask if they need to be in a common area of the house near other persons.
• If possible, sick persons should use a separate bathroom. This bathroom should be cleaned daily with household disinfectant (see below).

Protect other persons in the home

• The sick person should not have visitors other than caregivers. A phone call is safer than a visit.
• If possible, have only one adult in the home take care of the sick person.
• Avoid having pregnant women care for the sick person. (Pregnant women are at increased risk of influenza-related complications and immunity can be suppressed during pregnancy).
• All persons in the household should clean their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub frequently, including after every contact with the sick person or the person’s room or bathroom.
• Use paper towels for drying hands after hand washing or dedicate cloth towels to each person in the household. For example, have different colored towels for each person.
• If possible, consideration should be given to maintaining good ventilation in shared household areas (e.g., keeping windows open in restrooms, kitchen, bathroom, etc.).
• Antivirals can be used to prevent the flu, so check with your healthcare provider to see if some persons in the home should use antiviral medications.



Education of patients, family members, and visitors by HMC Staff

If you are the caregiver

• Avoid being face-to-face with the sick person.
• When holding small children who are sick, place their chin on your shoulder so that they will not cough in your face.
• Clean your hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand rub after you touch the sick person or handle used tissues, or laundry.
• Caregivers might catch flu from the person they are caring for and then the caregiver might be able to spread the flu to others before the caregiver shows symptoms. Therefore, the caregiver should wear a mask when they leave their home to keep from spreading flu to others in case they are in the early stages of infection.
• Talk to your health care provider about taking antiviral medication to prevent the caregiver from getting the flu.
• Monitor yourself and household members for flu symptoms and contact a telephone hotline or health care provider if symptoms occur.

Using Facemasks or Respirators
(Only for people taking care of Sick patients at home)

• Avoid close contact (less than about 2 M away) with the sick person as much as possible.
• If you must have close contact with the sick person (for example, hold a sick infant), spend the least amount of time possible in close contact and try to wear a facemask.
• Used facemasks should be taken off and placed immediately in the regular trash so they don’t touch anything else.
• Avoid re-using disposable facemasks. If a reusable fabric facemask is used, it should be laundered with normal laundry detergent and tumble-dried in a hot dryer.
• After you take off a facemask, clean your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Household Cleaning, Laundry, and Waste Disposal

• Throw away tissues and other disposable items used by the sick person in the trash. Wash your hands after touching used tissues and similar waste.
• Keep surfaces (especially bedside tables, surfaces in the bathroom, and toys for children) clean by wiping them down with a household disinfectant according to directions on the product label.
• Linens, eating utensils, and dishes belonging to those who are sick do not need to be cleaned separately, but importantly these items should not be shared without washing thoroughly first.
• Wash linens (such as bed sheets and towels) by using household laundry soap and tumble dry on a hot setting. Avoid “hugging” laundry prior to washing it to prevent contaminating yourself. Clean your hands with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub right after handling dirty laundry.
• Eating utensils should be washed either i in a dishwasher or by hand with water and soap.