Columbia University Pandemic Flu Response

1. Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are also effective.
   
   
2. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or the elbow of your arm when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
   
   
3. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
   
   
4. Avoid close contact with others who are ill. Avoid holding, hugging or kissing anyone who has a cold or the flu.
   
   
5. Do not take people at high risk for influenza into large crowds during influenza season unless necessary.
   
   
6. Stay home when you are ill. Stay home when you are ill. If you have flu symptoms, stay home from work or school and avoid public activities until you are well (the current recommendation is 24 hours after you no longer have fever).
   
   
• If you are feeling sick enough to need medical care, call your regular doctor or, if you are a student, the University Health Services.
• Do not go to the emergency room unless it's necessary. In a bad flu year, flu patients can flood the hospital and also spread the infection to other people.
• Keep an extra supply of non-perishable food, water and medications on hand, in case you have to stay inside for a while. This is a good general precaution for many other emergencies, such as severe weather or power outages.
  
  
7. Those at risk for serious complication should receive a pneumococcal vaccination. Secondary bacterial pneumonia is a common complication of influenza, a large proportion of which is due to the pneumococcus bacteria. It is likely to be the same with pandemic strains. Administering vaccine to people at risk for pneumococcal disease protects them now and during the next pandemic.
   
   
8. Get an influenza shot annually.
   
   
9. Take precautions when traveling to areas affected by H1N1 or H5N1 influenza. The CDC recommends that travelers at high risk for complications from any form of flu should discuss their travel plans with their doctor to carefully review the H1N1 flu situation in their destination and the available health-care options in the area. CDC does not currently recommend avoiding travel to countries affected by H1N1 or H5N1 influenza. However, it does recommend avoiding all direct contact with poultry (including touching well-appearing, sick or dead chickens and ducks). It also recommends avoiding places such as farms and markets where live animals are raised or kept, and avoiding the handling of surfaces contaminated with poultry or swine feces or secretions.

For more information, please visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Good Health Habits for Preventing Seasonal Flu.

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