THEFLU:AGuideForParentsFLUINFORMATION

Whatistheflu?Theflu(influenza)isaninfec0onofthenose,throat,andlungscausedbyinfluenzaviruses.Therearemanydifferentinfluenzavirusesthatareconstantlychanging.Theycauseillness,hospitalstaysanddeathsintheUnitedStateseachyear.Influenzavirusesarenamedfortheirtypeandsubtype.InfluenzavirusesthatcommonlymakepeoplesickareinfluenzaAH1N1viruses,influenzaAH3N2virusesandinfluenzaBviruses.Some0mesanewinfluenzavirusemergesandstartsspreadingamongpeople.

Whatis2009H1N1flu?LastfluseasonanewinfluenzaAH1N1virusspreadworldwideamongpeople.Thenewviruswascalled“2009H1N1”fortheyearinwhichitwasdiscoveredanditssubtype.(Thisviruswassome0mescalled“swineflu”or“novelflu”.)Thisfluseason,scien0stsexpectboththe2009H1N1fluvirusalongwithotherseasonalinfluenzavirusestospreadandcauseillness.Howseriousistheflu?Fluillnesscanvaryfrommildtosevere.Whiletheflucanbeseriouseveninpeoplewhoareotherwisehealthy,itcanbeespeciallydangerousforyoungchildrenandchildrenofanyagewhohavecertainlongtermhealthcondi0ons,includingasthma(evenmildorcontrolled),neurologicalandneurodevelopmentalcondi0ons,chroniclungdisease,heartdisease,blooddisorders,endocrinedisorders(suchasdiabetes),kidney,liver,andmetabolic

disorders,andweakenedimmunesystemsduetodiseaseormedica0on.Childrenwiththesecondi0onsandchildrenwhoarereceivinglong‐termaspirintherapycanhavemoresevereillnessfromtheflu.

Howdoesfluspread?Mostexpertsbelievethatfluvirusesspreadmainlybydropletsmadewhenpeoplewithflucough,sneezeortalk.Thesedropletscanlandinthemouthsornosesofpeoplewhoarenearby.LessoVen,apersonmightalsogetflubytouchingasurfaceorobjectthathasfluvirusonitandthentouchingtheirownmouth,eyesornose.

Whatarethesymptomsoftheflu?Symptomsofflucanincludefever,cough,sorethroat,runnyorstuffynose,bodyaches,headache,chills,fa0gueandsome0mesvomi0nganddiarrhea.Somepeoplewiththefluwillnothaveafever.

Howlongcanasickpersonspreadtheflutoothers?Peoplewithflumaybeabletoinfectothersbysheddingvirusfrom1daybeforegeYngsickto5to7daysaVer.However,childrenandpeoplewithweakenedimmunesystemscanshedvirusforlonger,andmightbes0llcontagiouspast5to7daysofbeingsick,especiallyiftheys0llhavesymptoms.

PROTECTYOURCHILD

HowcanIprotectmychildagainstflu?Toprotectagainsttheflu,thefirstandmostimportantthingyoucandoistogetafluvaccineforyourselfandyourchild.Vaccina0onisrecommendedforeveryone6monthsandolder.Whileeveryoneshouldgetafluvaccineeachfluseason,it’sespeciallyimportantthatyoungchil‐drenandchildrenwithlongtermhealthcondi0onsgetvaccinated.(Seelistofcondi0onsunder“HowSeriousisFlu?”)Also,caregiversofchildrenwithhealthcondi0onsorchildrenyoungerthan6monthsoldshouldgetvaccinated.(Babiesyoungerthan6monthsaretooyoungtobevaccinatedthemselves.)Anotherwaytoprotectbabiesistovaccinatepregnantwomenbecauseresearchshowsthatthisgivessomeprotec0ontothebabybothwhilethewomanispregnantandforafewmonthsaVerthebabyisborn.Anewfluvaccineismadeeachyeartoprotectagainstthethreefluvirusesthatresearchindicatesaremostlikelytocauseillnessduringthenextfluseason.Thisseason’svaccineprotectsagainsttheH1N1virusthatcausedsomuchillnesslastseason,aninfluenzaAH3N2virus,andaninfluenzaBvirus.Thisseason’sfluvaccineisbeingmadeusingthesamesafetyandproduc0onmethodsandinthesamedoseaspastfluvaccines.Overtheyears,millionsoffluvaccineshavebeengivenintheUnitedStates.Fluvaccineshaveaverygoodsafetyrecord.

Istheremedicinetotreattheflu?An0viraldrugscantreatfluillness.Theycanmakepeoplefeelbeberandgetbebersoonerandmaypreventserious

IFYOURCHILDISSICK

FormoreinformaDon,visitwww.cdc.gov/fluorwww.flu.govorcall800‐CDC‐INFO

flucomplica0ons,likepneumonia,forexample,thatcanleadtohospitaliza0onandevendeath.Thesedrugsaredifferentfroman0bio0cs,buttheyalsoneedtobeprescribedbyadoctor.Theyworkbestwhenstartedduringthefirst2daysofillness.It’sveryimportantthatan0viraldrugsbeusedearlytotreatfluinpeoplewhoareverysick(forexamplepeoplewhoareinthehospital)orpeoplewhoareatgreaterriskofhavingseriousflucomplica0ons.Otherpeoplewithfluillnessmayalsobenefitfromtakingan0viraldrugs.Thesedrugscanbegiventochildrenandpregnantwomen.

WhataresomeoftheotherwaysIcanprotectmychildagainsttheflu?Inaddi0ontogeYngvaccinated,take–andencourageyourchildtotake–everydaystepsthatcanhelppreventthespreadofgerms.Thisincludes:ÑCovercoughsandsneezeswitha0ssue.Throwthe0ssueinthetrashaVeryouuseit.

ÑStayawayfrompeoplewhoaresick.

ÑWashhandsoVenwithsoapandwater.Ifsoapandwaterarenotavailable,useanalcohol‐basedhandrub.

ÑAvoidtouchingyoureyes,noseandmouth.Germsspreadthisway.

ÑIfsomeoneinthehouseholdissick,trytokeepthesickpersoninaseparateroomfromothersinthehousehold,ifpossible.

ÑKeepsurfaceslikebedsidetables,surfacesinthebath‐room,kitchencountersandtoysforchildrencleanbywipingthemdownwithahouseholddisinfectantaccord‐ingtodirec0onsontheproductlabel.

ÑThrowaway0ssuesandotherdisposableitemsusedbysickpersonsinyourhouseholdinthetrash.

TheseeverydaystepsareagoodwaytoreduceyourchancesofgeYngallsortsofillnesses,butvaccina0onisalwaysthebestwaytospecificallypreventflu.

WhatshouldIuseforhandcleaning?Washinghandswithsoapandwater(foraslongasittakestosingthe“HappyBirthday”songtwice)willhelpprotectagainstmanygerms.Ifsoapandwaterarenotavailable,useanalcohol‐basedhandrub.

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cough,consultyourdoctorasneededandmakesureyourchildgetsplentyofrestanddrinksenoughfluids.

Ifyourchildisyoungerthan5years(andespeciallyyoungerthan2years)orofanyagewithalongtermhealthcondi0on(likeasthma,aneurologicalcondi0on,ordiabetes,forexample)anddevelopsflu‐likesymptoms,theyareatriskforseriouscomplica0onsfromtheflu.Askadoctorifyourchildshouldbeexamined.

Whatifmychildseemsverysick?Evenchildrenwhohavealwaysbeenhealthybeforeorhadtheflubeforecangetaseverecaseofflu.

Callforemergencycareortakeyourchildtoadoctorrightawayifyourchildofanyagehasanyofthewarningoremergencysignsbelow:

ÑFastbreathingortroublebreathing

ÑBluishorgrayskincolor

ÑNotdrinkingenoughfluids(notgoingtothebathroomormakingasmuchurineastheynormallydo)

ÑSevereorpersistentvomi0ng

ÑNotwakingupornotinterac0ng

ÑBeingsoirritablethatthechilddoesnotwanttobeheld

ÑFlu‐likesymptomsimprovebutthenreturnwithfeverandworsecough

ÑHasothercondi0ons(likeheartorlungdisease,diabetes,orasthma)anddevelopsflusymptoms,includingafeverand/orcough.

Canmychildgotoschool,daycareorcampifheorsheissick?No.Yourchildshouldstayhometorestandtoavoidgivingtheflutootherchildrenorcaregivers.

WhencanmychildgobacktoschoolaNerhavingtheflu?Keepyourchildhomefromschool,daycareorcampforatleast24hoursaVertheirfeverisgone.(Fevershouldbegonewithouttheuseofafever‐reducingmedicine.)Afeverisdefinedas100°For37.8°C.

WhatcanIdoifmychildgetssick?Talktoyourdoctorearlyifyouareworriedaboutyourchild’sillness.

Ifyourchildis5yearsandolderanddoesnothaveotherhealthproblemsandgetsflu‐likesymptoms,includingafeverand/or