Flu season starts earlier in PA

With flu season upon us, REALTORS® should take some extra precautions to try to avoid contracting the flu.

“REALTORS® do a lot of hand shaking and doorknob turning in their line of work,” said PA Deputy Secretary of Health and Planning Assessment Michael Huff. “Handshaking is a great way to pass disease so the best recommendation is to wash your hands frequently or to carry alcohol-based hand sanitizer to use when you’re in a location that doesn’t have soap and water.”

Other recommendations from the state health department  are:

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
• Clean areas that are commonly touched (like doorknobs)
• Get the seasonal flu vaccination
• Stay home if you’re ill
• Get the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available.

Businesses are urged to review sick leave policies to determine if people can work from home in the event of a large epidemic. Employees who are sick should be encouraged to stay home.

“We’re being reminded that we have a personal responsibility,” he added. “If we have the flu, we should stay home to help stop the spread.”

Pennsylvania has seen a recent spike in the number of H1N1 cases in the last month. “Compared to the spring, we are seeing continued activity despite a lull in the summer,” Huff said. “We anticipated we’d see an upturn in the fall and we have, particularly in the southwest, southeast and north central areas of the commonwealth.”

Stacy Kriedeman, PA Department of Health press secretary, said this upswing of flu cases is earlier than Pennsylvania usually sees flu outbreaks.

There have been more than 2,500 reported cases of H1N1 in Pennsylvania but Huff said the number is probably much larger because many people don’t always seek medical treatment when they have flu symptoms.

While about 70 percent of the state’s reported cases are among young people between the ages of five and 25, Huff urges everyone to take precautions to avoid contracting or spreading the virus.

To find a flu clinic, visit FluClinicLocator.org.

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 7:00 am and is filed under Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.