• Call your primary care physician if you or your child has the flu
• Please refrain from visiting patients if you or your child is experiencing flu-like symptoms, such as runny nose, sneezing, coughing, fever, body aches
• Children under the age of 12 are not permitted to visit patients

Cold/Flu Prevention Tips

Prevent a Cold and the Flu

Like it or not, kids put things in their mouths, wipe their runny noses with their hands or sneeze or cough in your face or into their hands. So, how can you prevent your child from catching a cold or the flu or spreading their germs to their classmates? “Teaching and enforcing good hygiene habits are key,” said Clara Mayoral, M.D., chair of pediatrics at South Nassau. “You have to explain that germs are transmitted into their bodies primarily by touching infected surfaces and then putting their hands in their mouths or handling or playing with their food before eating it.”

Dr. Mayoral offers these tips to help keep your kids healthy:

1. Handwashing: especially after school, after trips to the bathroom and before eating. Not near a sink? Teach them to rub an alcohol-based sanitizer on their hands. Dr. Mayoral suggests that you pack a hand wipe or sanitizer in their lunch box.
2. Cover sneezes or coughs with a tissue. If a tissue is unavailable, instruct them to cough or sneeze into the inside of their elbow.
3. Keep the hands off the face: Cold and flu viruses enter the body primarily through the nose, eyes or mouth
4. Drink plenty of liquids: Water flushes toxins and waste out of their system
5. Boost the body’s natural immune system by serving your child a variety of fresh whole foods, including vegetables and whole grains
6. If your child does get sick, don’t put other children at risk by sending him or her to school. Encourage your child to get plenty of sleep and rest.

Did You Know?

It is estimated that more than 200,000 people in the United States are hospitalized from flu-related complications on average each season, including 20,000 children younger than 5 years old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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