The flu season is here with us and that means one thing; millions of children missing from school and their parents scrambling up and down in emergency rooms trying to get their children treated. It really is one big mess which affects lots of things and people.
So, as a parent, how can you cut down the odds of your child suffering from flu during this flu season? How can you prevent your children from catching flu during this breakout season? Frontline Emergency Room understands the struggles that parents go through during the flu season and has put together tips on how to prevent flu in children.
Here are 8 tips to prevent flu in children as provided by Frontline Emergency Room;
Tips to prevent flu in children
Start your child’s day with a healthy meal
Healthy food is very essential when it comes to boosting the immunity of a child. Without a strong immune system, frequent diseases like flu and colds will always attack your young one and render him or her weak.
Always ensure that you child feeds on a balanced diet with enough carbohydrates, proteins and vital vitamins and you will have taken the first step towards preventing a lot of diseases.
Ensure that you child has enough sleep
Just like healthy food, sleep is very essential when it comes to building a child’s immunity. Sleep plays a very important role on the immunity of a child and if a child doesn’t get enough sleep, they will be predisposed to a number of niggling infections such as flu and colds.
Ensure that your child goes to bed early and catches a minimum of 8 hours of sleep in a comfortable bed. These are the simple things that parents overlook which are very important in a child’s health.
Ensure that your children know how to wash their hands properly
Washing hands is an underrated means of preventing diseases. Properly washing your hands will not just prevent flu, it will reduce the chances of contracting things like diarrhea, typhoid and even skin infections.
Educate your children to wash their hands after using the toilet, after sneezing, after handling dirt and after they finish playing outside with their friends. Ensure that the children know how to thoroughly scrub their hands using detergent and rinse the hands using clean running water.
Vaccinate your children
At the end of the day, the surest way of ensuring that your children are safe from most fungal and bacterial infections, is to ensure that they get flu shots from an early age. Immunization is important in the development of the immunity of a child from an early age and you should ensure that your child gets all the necessary vaccines long before the diseases strike.
Talk to your doctor about the vaccines that your child needs and the right age to get them. Ensure that the child gets all these shots and it will save you a lot of money and effort in future.
Train your children to cough with their mouths covered
Sneezing is one of the easiest ways through which flu and common colds are spread. People who sneeze into the open air leave the other people in the vicinity exposed to the virus released into the air.
It is therefore to train your children to cough and sneeze into the crook of their arms or into a tissue if they have one. Children should desist sneezing into their hands as this makes it very easy to spread the virus through handshakes.
Ensure that your children keep fit and exercise on a regular basis
Playing and exercising on a regular basis, are good ways of keeping the body fit and boosting one’s immunity. Parents should therefore ensure that their children are always active. Let them play outside in the cold. The winter cold doesn’t cause any flu, the flu is caused by germs.
Avoid crowded places
Crowded places are rich in saliva, mucus and contaminated air. Teach your children to avoid crowded places and always ensure that there is proper aeration in the rooms they spend time in. This will reduce the chances of picking up infections such as flu.
Teach your children to stop sharing personal effects
Personal effects such as handkerchiefs, tissues and even some utensils should not be shared during outbreaks of flus and colds. Sharing of personal effects increases the chances of children coming into contact with the disease causing germs.
Need more tips? Give Frontline Emergency Room a Call Today
If you want more tips on how to keep your child safe from infections such as flu, give us a call here at Frontline Emergency Room and we will gladly be of help. Besides providing free tips to clients, Frontline Emergency Room is a no wait emergency care facility offering the best emergency services to the locals of Richmond, TX and Dallas, TX at very affordable rates.
Frontline Emergency Rooms accept most of the medical insurances on offer in Texas and you should therefore not be too worried about your insurance. We also offer a flexible payment plan and are always willing to listen to you. Give us a call here at Frontline emergency room today and we will gladly be of help.
