Swine flu prevention tips for home care workers

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Swine flu is a highly contagious disease, easily spread person-to-person by virus particles contained in coughs, sneezes, or personal contact (such as kissing or on hands). Caring for the elderly is a huge responsibility and the last thing anyone wants to do is spread the flu or swine flu by not practicing hygienic practices.

If you are a home care worker or health care worker, your job becomes more strenuous during the flu season. Below are some tips to ensure the continued health of your charges:

1. Schedule and get your own flu shots - for both the flu and the swine flu. The flu shot does NOT protect against Swine flu so make sure to get immunized against both. Swine flu shots are proposed to be available in October sometime and come in a series of 2 shots, 3 weeks apart.

2. Ensure your elderly friends are immunized against flu and pneumonia. The CDC recognizes that most elderly subjects have some natural immunity to swine flu so are more concerned with immunizing the primary targeted groups before the elderly. 

3. Monitor visitors coming in. Everyone wants their darling child to visit grandma or grandpa but little ones are breeding grounds for illnesses due to having a new immune system. The elderly are especially susceptible to illness so keep anyone with a running nose, cough or sneeze away from the people for whom you care. Swine flu contagion period is 7 days after symptoms start but children may remain contagious for much longer.

4. Ask visitors to keep kissing and touching to a minimum. It's a good time to practice 'air kisses' or 'blowing kisses' from young children to the elderly.

5. Keep antibiotic solutions (such as Pyrex) handy throughout the house. Controversy exists about whether antibiotic solutions really help reduce the spread of flu or Swine flu as they're viruses but it can't hurt! Ask visitors to use the solution before touching the elderly.

6. Monitor the CDC Fluview spread maps to see where confirmed cases are, on a week by week basis. Increase prevention maneuvers accordingly - if flu cases have been confirmed in your immediate area, you might want to consider instituting a 'no visit' policy. Phone calls are always allowed....

Additional resources:
Swine Flu high risk groups - Who are they?
CDC Guidance on flu infection control
CDC Swine flu key facts