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Communication Tools About Flu for Businesses - If You Are Not Feeling Well

December 28, 2:00 PM ET

• Coordinate efforts with your local health department before distributing this letter or e-mail communication to ensure that all information is timely, relevant, and accurate.
• Visit www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/business/toolkit/ to download and customize a Microsoft Word version of this letter and to view more flu information to share with employees.
• Consider customizing by using your business stationery or e-mail template, inserting a name and contact information of someone employees can reach for flu questions, adding the signature line of the owner, president, etc.

If you are not feeling well

Do you have a fever or chills AND a cough, sore throat, or runny nose?

If “yes,”you may have the flu. Symptoms of flu include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and tiredness. Some people may also have vomiting and diarrhea. People may be infected with the flu, including the 2009 H1N1 flu and have respiratory problems without a fever.

Please do NOT come to work if you are sick with a fever AND cough, sore throat, or runny nose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that sick employees stay home if they are sick with flu-like illness until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever (100°F [37.8°C] or greater) or signs of a fever without the use of fever-reducing medicines (any medicine that contains ibuprofen or acetaminophen).

If you are at higher risk for complications from the flu and you are sick, contact your health care provider as soon as possible. Children younger than 5 years of age, pregnant women, people of any age with chronic medical conditions (such as pulmonary disease, asthma, diabetes, neuromuscular disorders, or heart disease), and people 65 years of age and older are more likely to get complications from the flu. Your health care provider may prescribe antiviral medicines, and they are most effective when started within 2 days of getting sick. It’s very important that antiviral drugs be used early to treat flu in people who are very sick (for example people who are in the hospital) and people who are sick with flu and have a greater chance of getting serious flu complications. Other people may also be treated with antiviral drugs by their doctor this season.
In addition, emergency warning signs that the sick person needs 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