Flu Season is in Full Swing
Stevenson, like many other healthcare facilities across the province, is seeing an increase in patients with respiratory and flu-like symptoms.
Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is a seasonal infection of the airways and lungs. Sometimes easily spread from person to person, influenza is typically most prevalent between November and April. Each year, 2000 Canadians die from influenza or complications from the flu.
Community members can play an active role in preventing the spread of influenza by remembering the following tips:
· Get your flu shot.
· Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with your hands.
· Cough and sneeze into your arm or sleeve, not your hand.
· Clean your hands often with alcohol-based rub. If hands are visibly soiled, wash your hands with soap and water.
· Keep common surfaces such as telephones and door knobs and items clean and disinfected.
· If you are sick, stay at home and limit contact with others.
To ensure we can meet the needs of patients, we are reminding community members with mild to moderate flu-like symptoms that do not require urgent, immediate care to make an appointment with their family physician or contact TeleHealth at 1-866-797-0000 for advice.
When to Seek Urgent Medical Attention:
In children, the following emergency warning signs require urgent medical attention:
- Fast breathing or trouble breathing
- Bluish or gray skin color
- Severe or persistent vomiting
- 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
In adults, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
- Sudden dizziness
- Confusion
- Severe or persistent vomiting
- Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
