Staying healthy during flu season

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- As flu season continues to ravage through the country many people are doing everything they can to avoid catching the virus.

Almost 15,000 people in the U.S. have been hospitalized with the flu since the season began. In Muskingum County, there have been 44 recorded cases of the flu. That number is expected to rise as the season continues.

“There has been several, several more instances of flu this year. Has become steadily more so as the flu season has increased we see several prescriptions every day,” said Jeff Krause the Manager at Northside Pharmacy.

This has caused many clinics and pharmacies to run low on vaccines and over the counter meds as people hurry to protect themselves.

“There have been instances where things have been bought up pretty early. Some of our over the counter medicines, some of the homeopathic medicines people like have been bought up,” said Krause. “I believe the Theraflu is in a little bit of a shortage right now. Even some of the prescription items you get for the flu have become in short quantity as of recently.”

Krause said Northside is running low on vaccines, but they have placed an order for more. The Zanesville-Muskingum County Public Health Department recommends the shot for those who have not yet gotten one. Tiffany McFee, a Registered Nurse at the Health Department, said you should practice good healthy habits such as not touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.

“You want to make sure that you washed your hands frequently. So that’s hot soapy water for at least a minute,” said McFee. “During the normal times: after you’ve used the restroom before you eat after you eat, food preparation. If you’ve been around people out in the public, kind of want to keep your distance if you notice people are coughing. Things like that.”

McFee said you definitely want to be on top of these things if someone in your household is sick. She said that you will want to keep them isolated and confined to a room to keep from spreading germs. You should also keep hand sanitizer available and consider wearing a face mask to stop the spread of germs. And if you’re experiencing signs of the flu such as fever, headache, body aches, or chills then you want to see a doctor.

“The anti-virals are most effective if you get it within the first couple days. But a lot of people don’t realize in the first couple of days that they could have the flu. So that’s the hard part,” said McFee. “But if anytime you are not being able to keep food or fluids down or not taking in food or fluids you want to be checked out for that because dehydration and then the complications of flu can come on rather quickly.”

McFee said you should clean common surfaces like light switches, phones, and computers often because the virus can live up to 24 hours on them. McFee said you should also wash your clothes once a week to get rid of germs because the virus can live 8-12 hours on soft surfaces.