Preventing the Flu - Tips to Keep Your Family Healthy This Season

by Eunice Chen, MD

With flu season upon us, parents can take some extra precautions to keep their kids and themselves healthy this fall and winter. Prepare your family early with these helpful tips.

Seasonal influenza, more commonly referred to as “the flu,” is a viral infection caused by the influenza virus. Influenza activity typically peaks in the winter months in temperate regions like Shanghai and easily spreads from person to person, especially in enclosed spaces like classrooms and offices. The virus can be spread by air droplets from coughing or sneezing, and children as well as adults can also be infected with the virus when touching the mouth, eyes, or nose after coming in contact with an infected surface.

What are the symptoms?

Influenza symptoms usually appear as an abrupt onset of high fever, cough, body aches, headache, malaise, runny nose, sore throat, or any combination of these. Symptoms typically show up two days after exposure to the virus. However, an individual with the influenza virus becomes contagious one day before the onset of symptoms and continues to be contagious for up to five days after symptoms appear.

What treatments are available?

Treatment of influenza usually involves over the counter medications for symptomatic relief and/or prescription anti-virals specifically designed to fight against the flu. While treatments are available most people actually recover from the influenza virus naturally within a week without any medical intervention at all. However, complications from the flu can occur and, in severe cases such as pneumonia, may require hospitalization.

If flu is suspected, it is important to note that children and teenagers should not be given aspirin or cold remedies containing aspirin. This includes products with acetylsalicylate, salicylate, acetylsalicylic acid, ASA or salicylic acid. These ingredients can lead to them developing Reye’s syndrome, a serious and potentially fatal disease that affects the neurological system. It is important to know the ingredients of any medications prior to administering them to children or teenagers. If you are administering drugs produced locally in China and you cannot read the label of the medicine box, it is important to confirm the ingredients prior to usage.