This year’s vaccine includes protection against the three most likely strains of influenza to affect the United States this season – including H1N1.
 
A flu vaccine is the first and most important step in protecting against flu infection. For information about the 2009 flu vaccine, visit the CDC’s website www.flu.gov.

Stay at home and rest if possible. The emergency room should be used for people who are very sick. You should not go to the emergency room if you are only mildly ill. The vast majority of patients do not need to be seen by a health care provider and less than one-half of one percent require hospitalization.
 
However, if you are at high risk of flu complications or you are concerned about worsening of symptoms, call your health care provider for advice. If you go to the emergency room or doctor’s office and you are not sick with the flu, you may catch it from people who do have it.

In children:

• Fast breathing or trouble breathing
• Bluish skin color
• Not drinking enough fluids
• Not waking up or not interacting
• Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
• Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
• Fever with a rash

 
In adults:

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
• Sudden dizziness
• Confusion
• Severe or presistent vomiting

CDC recommends that people with influenza-like illness remain at home until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever (<100° F [37.8°C]), or signs of a fever without the use of fever-reducing medications.
 
This is a change from the previous recommendation that ill persons stay home for 7 days after illness onset or until 24 hours after the resolution of symptoms, whichever was longer.

Yes. There are drugs your doctor may prescribe for treating both seasonal and H1N1 called “antiviral drugs.” These drugs can make you better faster and may also prevent serious complications.
 
This flu season, antiviral drugs are being used mainly to treat people who are very sick, such as people who need to be hospitalized, and to treat sick people who are more likely to get serious flu complications.
 
Your health care provider will decide whether antiviral drugs are needed to treat your illness. Remember, most people with the flu have a mild illness and do not need medical care or antiviral drugs.

Employees who are well but who have an ill family member at home with flu can go to work as usual. These employees should monitor their health every day, and take everyday precautions including covering their coughs and sneezes and washing their hands often with soap and water, especially after they cough or sneeze.
 
If soap and water are not available, they should use an alcohol-based hand rub. If they become ill, they should notify their supervisor and stay home. Employees who have an underlying medical condition or who are pregnant should call their health care provider for advice, because they might need to receive influenza antiviral drugs.