Jim decided to vote on his way to work in an attempt to steer clear of the long lines that would be forming later in the day. He walked over to the machine after a very brief wait and proceeded to use the touch screen to record his vote. Later, he stopped at the ATM machine to take out some money and followed the directions to use the multi touch technology it required. He really did not even think about the fact that many other people had also used these machines before him and was not at all concerned that he may have picked up some germs that could make him very sick. In fact, as he got his coffee in the employee snack room he picked up a donut from the huge container on the table without even washing his hands. This is just one way that people can catch the flu. Every day, we are hearing that the flu is spreading at an alarming rate and that we must be careful about how we are protecting ourselves against it. Five of the most talked about and useful ways of avoiding this illness are as follows:
1. Hand Washing: This should be done well and frequently to be helpful. We have all heard that we should sing a little song like “Happy Birthday to You” to ourselves to ensure that we wash our hands for at least 20 seconds. Letting the water get to a warm temperature is also recommended for the maximum benefits.
2. Hand Sanitizer: This is also a good option when it is impossible to actually wash your hands because there are no facilities nearby. It is a good practice to use a hand sanitizer after making contact with anything that other folks are touching in a public way and that includes phones, revolving doors, and ATM machines.
3. Avoid touching your face: It has been found that germs can easily enter your body through the practice of touching your eyes, nose and mouth and that people should make it a habit not to do so when in a populated place where someone could have the flu or a cold.
4. Sneeze into your elbow: It used to be an unofficial rule that people should sneeze into their hand but when you really think about it that is a guaranteed way to spread germs to others. Sneezing into your arm around the area of your elbow allows a person to isolate droplets that might otherwise result in the illness of another person.
5. Stay home: When you have any signs that you may be coming down with a cold virus or the flu it is important to stay home from work to avoid exposing others. A minor cough or a low grade fever can turn into a bad case of the flu in just a few hours and it is consider not to take any sickness into the office. For the first time in many years employers are encouraging their employees to use sick time even if they do not appear to be seriously ill because they do not want to take a chance of exposing workers to the flu.