OTTUMWA —
When the boss sees one of her employees showing symptoms of the flu, she doesn’t let them come to the office.
“I’m very strict about that,” said Lynelle Diers, Wapello County Public Health director. “A healthy adult can miss up to two weeks of work due to influenza.”
This is not the same thing as a stomach flu, with diarrhea and nausea.
The people she knows who have had influenza have often spent two to three days not getting out of bed.
“They were miserable. A fever of 102-103 [degrees], body aches all over, they usually develop a cough, maybe a runny nose, your head pounds. You will be miserable,” the nurse said. “And if you contract influenza, you are contagious up to 10 days.”
That’s why public health departments around Iowa urge supervisors to encourage symptomatic workers to stay home. In Monroe County, public health nurse Kim Hugen said we need to keep our germs to ourselves.
“Particularly when those symptoms are the worst, or if you’re running a fever, those are the times you want to stay home,” Hugen said.
Not just from work — do the community a favor and avoid public places like the market and the theaters, experts say.
“There are usually 10,000 deaths each year in the U.S. due to influenza or complications from influenza,” Diers said.
She added that there’s no cure for influenza. Stories of people having their lives saved by antibiotics, she said, refer to those who end up catching pneumonia; that’s what the antibiotics help the patient through, not the flu.
Both nurses said getting a flu shot helps reduce the chance of getting the flu in the first place.
Some trivia about that flu shot: It’s not a live virus in there; it doesn’t give people the flu; if you’ve already been exposed to germs, even getting the shot won’t help; it takes 10 days to two weeks for your immunity to build up.
Hugen said people who are around babies — or others who are not supposed to have the flu vaccine — should be sure to be protected.
She said a baby under 6 months won’t be vaccinated. So people who are around that baby must get vaccinated so they don’t infect the baby.
“It’s very important,” she said.
So far, no Iowans have the flu. If you want to keep it that way, Hugen said, don’t put other people’s flu germs in your nose or in your mouth.
“Hand washing is huge,” she said.
When someone with the flu — even if they don’t know they have it — coughs into their hand, that’s where the germs are. When they put their hand on a doorknob, that’s where the germs are.
“Then you come along and touch it,” Hugen said.
That’s why you wash your hands several times a day, she added. Between that and getting the shot, you’re on your way to a healthy flu season, she said.
“If they have questions or concerns, they should contact their local public health nurse,” said Hugen.
That’s also a good way to find out about upcoming flu-shot clinics. Or watch for notices posted in the local paper or on local bulletin boards.
In Wapello County, flu-shot clinics start next week and will run 1-3 p.m. every Monday through Wednesday, as well as Fridays at the Wapello Building downtown. A shot costs $25, or it can be billed to Medicare Part B if you present your card.
Local News
September 8, 2012
Prepare for the flu season
Officials offer advice to prevent the misery: Get a flu shot, stay home if you get it, wash hands
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