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Template letter or E-mail: Get Ready for Flu Season Now!

November 4, 2009, 7:00 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.
• This template can be customized and used as an announcement via e-mail, Web site, newsletter, or other creative media to reach members, service recipients and staff.
• Consider customizing this letter by using your organization’s stationery or e-mail template, inserting a name and contact information of someone community members can reach for flu questions, adding the signature line of the president, executive director, clergy, etc.

Get Ready for Flu Season Now!

• The flu season is starting lasts through the fall and winter. More than one kind of flu virus will be spreading this season, including seasonal flu and the 2009 H1N1 flu. If you get the flu, you can spread the flu to others at home, at work, and in the community.
• Symptoms of flu can include all or some of the following: fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, tiredness, and sometimes diarrhea and vomiting. It’s important to note that not everyone with flu will have a fever.
• Plan to stay home if you are sick until at least 24 hours after you no longer have a fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit or 37.8 degrees Celsius) or signs of a fever (have chills, feel very warm, have a flushed appearance, or are sweating). This should be determined after fever-reducing medicines (any medicine that contains ibuprofen or acetaminophen) are no longer needed.
• Remember to cover your coughs and sneeze into a tissue.  Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.  Germs spread this way.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze.  If soap and water are not available, an alcohol-based hand rub can be used.
• Be prepared.
  • Get the vaccine for seasonal flu as recommended
  • Get the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine if it is recommended for you.
  • Make plans to care for sick household members or for children if schools dismiss students or early childhood programs close.
  • Be prepared in case you get sick and need to stay home. To help avoid the need to make trips out in public while you are sick, have the following items on hand: a supply of fever-reducing medicines that contain acetaminophen or ibuprofen, alcohol-based hand rubs, and tissues
  • Remember to cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Germs spread this way.
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. If soap and water are not available, an alcohol-based hand rub can be used.

If a severe flu outbreak hits our community, we will take additional steps to avoid spreading the flu virus.