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Caring for Someone Sick at Home

Make a Separate Sick Room, if You Can

December 5, 2009, 6:00 AM ET

sick woman in bedKeeping the person with flu in a separate sick room can help keep others in the family from getting the flu.

Take These Steps to Create a Separate Sick Room:

  • Try to give the sick person their own room. If there is more than one sick person, they can share the sick room if needed.
  • If you have more than one bathroom, have sick people use one bathroom and well people use the other one.
  • Give each sick person their own drinking glass, washcloth, and towel.

Have These Items in the Sick Room

  • Tissues
  • Trash can with lid and lined with a plastic trash bag
  • Alcohol-based hand rub
  • illustration of sick roomCooler or pitcher with ice and drinks
  • Cup with straw or squeeze bottle to help with drinking
  • Thermometer
  • Humidifier (A machine that puts tiny drops of water into the air. This extra moisture can make it easier for the sick person to breathe.)
  • Facemasks (Sick people should wear a facemask if available when they leave the sick room or are around other people.)

About Medicines in the Sick Room

  • Store all medicines out of reach of children. If you have no young children in the home, place medicines for adults in the sick room.
  • Write down medicine dose and when doses are needed.
Contact Us:
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    1600 Clifton Rd
    Atlanta, GA 30333
  • 800-CDC-INFO
    (800-232-4636)
    TTY: (888) 232-6348
  • Contact CDC-INFO