Fight the Flu
Keep your guard up this flu season. Banner Health offers information about symptoms, prevention and treatment to keep everyone safe from the flu.
Where to get a flu shot:
Know your flu symptoms. Symptoms for seasonal and H1N1 flu are similar and can come on quickly. They can include:
- Sore throat
- Body aches
- Runny or stuffy nose
Know when to seek medical care.
For most people, the best thing you can do is to stay home, rest and drink plenty of fluids.
You will most likely recover from the flu in a few days and won’t require a visit to your health care provider.
At this time of year, hospitals and urgent care centers are overcrowded with sick people, so you are advised to contact your doctor’s office first unless you are severely ill.
If you are at higher risk for flu complications, the flu can be more severe.
You are considered at high risk if you are 65 years and older, have chronic medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease), or you are pregnant. Young children are also considered high risk.
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that it is difficult to predict the number of flu-related deaths, it does report that "from the 1976-1977 season to the 2006-2007 flu season, flu-associated deaths ranged from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people."
Please contact immediately contact your health care provider or go to the nearest Emergency department if you have any of the following potentially life-threatening symptoms:
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
- Sudden dizziness, confusion
- Severe or persistent vomiting
- Flu symptoms that initially improve, but then return with cough and fever.
- Infants should be taken to an Emergency department if they have bluish or gray skin color, lack of responsiveness or extreme irritability.
Protect yourself and your family.
Get a flu shot early in the season.
- Stay home when you are sick.
- Thoroughly wash your hands.
- Use hand sanitizers.
- Cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough into your elbow rather than your hands
- Wipe down all hard surfaces with disinfectant wipes.
More flu information:
What is the flu?
- Flu shots
- Who should get a flu shot?
- Flu shots for people 50 and older
- Should Alzheimer's patients get the flu shot?
- Do flu and cold remedies go bad?
- Treating cold or flu symptoms
- Help for your sinuses
- Avoiding respiratory infections
Flu and children