Your Fall Flu Season Checklist
Based on CDC, Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine
Get ready for flu season: when to get your flu shot, everyday habits that prevent illness, how to tell a cold from flu and the warning signs that need care.
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In this guide
Prepare Now
- Get your flu shot
- Check which vaccines are due
- Stock a thermometer and fluids
Everyday Habits
- Soap for at least 20 seconds
- Sanitizer with 60 percent alcohol
- Cough into a tissue or elbow
If You Get Sick
- Stay home from work
- Call early if at higher risk
- Call 911 for an emergency
What the guideline says
- The CDC recommends a flu vaccine every season for everyone 6 months and older, with rare exceptions, and says ideally everyone should be vaccinated by the end of October.
- Wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds, or use a hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol.
- Colds usually come on gradually with a runny nose and sore throat, while flu tends to hit fast with fever or chills, cough, body aches, headache and exhaustion.
- Antiviral treatment for flu works best when started soon after symptoms begin, so people at higher risk should call as soon as symptoms start.
- Get care right away for trouble breathing, ongoing chest or abdominal pain or pressure, lasting dizziness or confusion, or a fever or cough that improves and then returns or worsens.
Source: CDC, Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine
Read the full article: Cold and Flu Season Checklist: How to Prepare and When to Call →
This guide is general health information and does not replace advice from your own provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
Trouble breathing, ongoing chest or abdominal pain or pressure, lasting dizziness or confusion, trouble staying awake, seizures, not urinating, severe weakness or muscle pain, a fever or cough that improves then returns or worsens, or a chronic condition getting worse. For emergencies, call 911.
Wash with soap for at least 20 seconds, or use a hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol.
Yes. When you get your flu shot, ask whether other vaccines are due for your age and health.