3 Tips To Help You Skip The Flu This Holiday Season

Halloween is officially over. Enter Thanksgiving and Christmas. As you come in to contact with an increased amount of people in the stores this holiday season you'll need to do everything you can to protect yourself and your family from contracting the flu. Here are three tips to help you skip getting the flu this holiday season.   

1. Get your flu shot.

Have you gotten your flu shot this year? Flu shots are officially available now at places like Jeff's Prescription Shop. According to the CDC, the most successful way to protect you and your family from contracting the flu is by getting your flu shot as soon as possible. Research suggests that flu shots protect the vaccinated person from catching the most common strains of the flu virus that will be active this season.  

2. Protect yourself and your family from germs.

Do you think the stranger that touched the bathroom door knob before you washed his or her hands before exiting the bathroom? Do you wonder if strangers sneeze into the air instead of politely covering their sneeze with a tissue? You can't control what everybody else does, but you can play defense.

Keep antibacterial hand wipes and antibacterial hand rubs with you. Don't eat or touch your face or eyes without washing your hands first. Keep the kitchen surfaces and door knobs in your house clean and disinfected to stop germs from being transferred onto unsuspecting hands.  

3. Shop at unpopular times whenever possible.

The parking lots will be full this holiday season. Chances are, mixed in with those hoards of well people are flu-sufferers that should be at home in bed. The weekends are always popular shopping times since most people are off from work. Try to shop on weekday mornings so that you will come into contact with less people. This will greatly decrease your potential exposure to the flu virus. Instead of going into the stores on the day after Thanksgiving, consider shopping online since many stores will have the same deals available on their websites.

A Few Final Thoughts  

With all of the concerns over Ebola on everyone's radar, don't underestimate the threat from the flu virus. Every year many Americans are hospitalized from severe complications of the virus. If you suspect that you have the flu, contact your doctor as soon as possible to begin antiviral medicine. If you wait too long, you will miss your window of opportunity as these drugs are only effective within the first 48 hours.