Flu Prevention

By Makou Lin

   Do you know that one person that never gets sick? It’s quite possible that they take precautions against germs. Let this season be the season where you start taking precautions against influenza, commonly known as the flu. Emerging rapidly across the U.S., the 2018 flu has everyone on edge for better hygiene. This year, with more than 30-recorded deaths of influenza by the CDC, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitals have been filling up across the nation - some relying on outdoor health tents to care for sick patients. People must start caring for themselves.

As an LSSC student, precautions should be taken everyday to keep their health in the clear. Not only do hundreds of people touch the door handles of the front office, many use the same hands to touch one or more parts of themselves. That being said, classrooms are no exceptions. Sitting down on a chair that someone else has sat on, taking notes on a table with someone else’s food crumbs, and reading crushed notes from the bottom trash of your backpack. Nothing is safe from the flu, especially since it is an air-borne illness (A disease that can spread through the air).

Here are some everyday precautions to keep the flu out:
1.Pay Attention to What You Touch.
a.The best way to avoid the flu is to, literally, not touch the flu. When students touch an infected anything, they become the reservoir that holds the flu virus. It clings, and it crawls on your skin waiting for the right moment when you just touch your face, yuck.
b.However, students cannot help it. If they don’t open the doors, who will? If they do not pull out the chairs, how will they sit? Will they stand? Of course not, but that does not mean they get a free pass against the flu. Paying attention to what you touch, would make you second guess putting that pen cap in your mouth. Or putting your pencil above your lips or laying your head on your hands. Just don’t forget and risk it because in the end, you are just spreading it.
2.Go Wash Your Hands.
a.You feel dirty because you touched something sticky on the chair, or you just slid your hand across the desk and there’s a few dust puffs stuck to you. What must you do? Wash your hands. Don’t be that person who just brushes it off. Because your still infected, according to the NHS, National Health Services, a flu virus can live up 15 minutes on tissue, including skin, and 24 hours on hard surfaces.
b.Plus, there is no excuse. At Lake Sumter, there is a bathroom in every building, even in the library, just unlocked for you. It welcomes you because it knows that washing your hands is the number one way to prevent the spread of disease.
3.Step Back.
a.Do you remember that the flu is an air-borne disease? That wherever you go, you might just breathe it in. Based on studies from the CDC, the flu virus can travel up to 6ft. on tiny particles in the air, like moisture from your breath. But, there’s nothing to fear if you just take a step back. No need to be so close to someone who is trying their best to not cough in your face. And even more so, if you’re the sick one. And if it feels awkward to step back. Communicate your concerns, you are still human, and you can still get very, very sick.

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