Antiviral Medications Can Be Effective
With flu vaccines are in shorter supply this year, it is more critical than ever that people in high risk categories who experience flu symptoms - fever, chills, headache, dry cough, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat and muscle aches - seek treatment within the first 36 hours on symptom onset. New and effective medications are available from health care providers to shorten the duration of the illness and to decrease the risk of serious complications.

There are four medications, Relenza, Tamiflu, Flumadine and Symmetrel. Health care providers have guidelines from pharmaceutical manufacturers, the FDA and the CDC to help determine which medication will be most effective for particular persons.

Generally speaking, any of these medications should reduce the duration of flu symptoms to the same degree, an average of about 1.5 days. The ability of patients to get to their physician and have access to the medication is of extreme importance. Flu symptoms treatment must be started within the first 36 hours.

Tips to Prevent Cold and Flu the "Old Fashioned" Way

Wash Your Hands
Most cold and flu viruses are spread by direct contact. Someone who has the flu sneezes onto their hand, and then touches the telephone, the keyboard, a kitchen glass. The germs can live for hours -- in some cases weeks -- only to be picked up by the next person who touches the same object. So wash your hands often. If no sink is available, rub your hands together very hard for a minute or so. That also helps break up most of the cold germs.

Do not Cover Your Sneezes and Coughs With Your Bare Hands
Because germs and viruses cling to your bare hands, muffling coughs and sneezes with your hands results in passing along your germs to others. When you feel a sneeze or cough coming, use a tissue, then throw it away immediately. If you don't have a tissue, cough into the crook of your arm or turn your head away from people near you and cough into the air.

Do not Touch Your Face
Cold and flu viruses enter your body through the eyes, nose, or mouth. Touching their faces is the major way children catch colds, and a key way they pass colds on to their parents.

Drink Plenty of Fluids
Water flushes your system, washing out the poisons as it re-hydrates you. A typical, healthy adult needs eight 8-ounce glasses of fluids each day. How can you tell if you're getting enough liquid? If the color of your urine runs close to clear, you're getting enough. If it's deep yellow, you need more fluids.

Take a Sauna
Researchers are not clear about the exact role saunas play in prevention, but one 1989 German study found that people who steamed twice a week got half as many colds as those who did not. One theory: When you take a sauna you inhale air hotter than 80 degrees, a temperature too hot for cold and flu viruses to survive.

Get Fresh Air
A regular dose of fresh air is important, especially in cold weather when central heating dries you out and makes your body more vulnerable to cold and flu viruses. Also, during cold weather more people stay indoors, which means more germs are circulating in crowded, dry rooms.

Do Aerobic Exercise Regularly
Aerobic exercise speeds up the heart to pump larger quantities of blood; makes you breathe faster to help transfer oxygen from your lungs to your blood; and makes you sweat once your body heats up. These exercises help increase the body's natural virus-killing cells.

Eat Your Veggies
Plants, and the natural chemicals in plants give the vitamins in food a supercharged boost. So put away the vitamin pill, and eat dark green, red, and yellow vegetables and fruits.

Eat Yogurt
Some studies have shown that eating a daily cup of low-fat yogurt can reduce your susceptibility to colds by 25 percent. Researchers think the beneficial bacteria in yogurt may stimulate production of immune system substances that fight disease.

Do not Smoke
Statistics show that heavy smokers get more severe colds and more frequent ones. Even being around smoke profoundly zaps the immune system. Smoke dries out your nasal passages and paralyzes cilia. These are the delicate hairs that line the mucous membranes in your nose and lungs, and with their wavy movements, sweep cold and flu viruses out of the nasal passages. Experts contend that one cigarette can paralyze cilia for as long as 30 to 40 minutes.

Decrease Alcohol Consumption
Heavy alcohol use destroys the liver, the body's primary filtering system, which means that germs of all kinds won't leave your body as fast. The result is, heavier drinkers are more prone to initial infections as well as secondary complications. Alcohol also dehydrates the body -- it actually takes more fluids from your system than it puts in.

Rest and Relax
If you can teach yourself to relax, you can activate your immune system on demand. There's evidence that when you put your relaxation skills into action, your interleukins -- leaders in the immune system response against cold and flu viruses -- increase in the bloodstream. Train yourself to picture an image you find pleasant or calming. Do this 30 minutes a day for several months.

Get adequate sleep and rest.

Late Immunizations for High Risk Individuals Advised
Vaccine redistribution efforts have enable some communities to obtain flu vaccines where shortages previously existed. Periodically contacting public health departments is the most effective way of learning of vaccine availability. Should vaccines become available, those at highest risk (following CDC recommendations) in your congregation should be altered.

• Identifying Individuals at Highest Risk
• Congregational Response
• Is It a Cold or the Flu?

This season's supply
The remaining supply of influenza vaccine expected to be available in the United States this season is nearly 54 million doses of Fluzone® (inactivated flu shot) manufactured by Aventis Pasteur, Inc. Of these doses, approximately 30 million doses already have been distributed by the manufacturer. In addition, approximately 1.1 million doses of live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV/FluMist ®) manufactured by MedImmune will be available this season.

The serious nature of the flu
The strain of influenza that crosses the country each winter is mutated from the past year’s strain and continues to kill an average of approximately 36,000 and results in the hospitalization of more than 114,000 people in the United States each year. The flu is more serious for people who are over 65, very young children, people with certain health problems, and pregnant women.

Most of the deaths reported in previous years have been of people who are in the high risk groups, particularly young children. Influenza types A or B viruses cause epidemics of disease almost every winter. In the United States, these winter influenza epidemics can cause illness in 10 to 20 percent of people. Influenza type C infections cause a mild respiratory illness and are not thought to cause epidemics. The flu shot does not protect against Type C influenza or any of the strains of Avian (Bird) Flu.

The flu can affect anyone but is more serious for some
Most people who get influenza will recover in one to two weeks, but some people will develop life-threatening complications. Pneumonia, bronchitis, and sinus and ear infections are three examples of complications from flu. The flu can make chronic health problems worse. For example, people with asthma may experience asthma attacks while they have the flu, and people with chronic congestive heart failure may have worsening of this condition that is triggered by the flu.

The Flu
The following information will provide a description of the flu, its signs and symptoms and may be helpful in identifying risk cases.

An "awareness" resource, Myths about the Flu is available to assist you with informing your family or congregation (through bulletin points, newsletters or other means) about myths associated with the flu. Download this awareness resource in printable Adobe Acrobat format. This file requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
For best results, right-click the link (or click and hold for Macintosh), select "save target as" and save the document to your desktop for viewing and printing.)

Who is at risk?
Every year, between 10 and 20 percent of people in the United States gets sick with the flu (influenza). In 1978 there were fewer than 5,000 American deaths due to flu related complications. Today, that figure has multiplied by ten. For most of us, the fever, exhaustion, aches and pains of the flu can be debilitating for a week or two, but for people who are elderly and those with compromised immune systems the flu can be much more serious. An estimated 100,000 hospitalizations and about 20,000 deaths occur each year from the flu or its complications.

What is the flu?
Influenza, also called the "flu," is a highly contagious respiratory infection.

What are the symptoms?
Flu can cause fever, chills, headache, dry cough, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat and muscle aches. Unlike other common respiratory infections such as the common cold, influenza can cause extreme fatigue lasting several days to more than a week. Although nausea, vomiting and diarrhea can sometimes accompany influenza infection especially in children, gastrointestinal symptoms are rarely prominent. The illness that people often call "stomach flu" is not influenza.

How is it spread?
Influenza is spread easily from person to person primarily when an infected person coughs or sneezes. After a person has been infected with the virus, symptoms usually appear within two to four days. The infection is often considered contagious for another three to four days after symptoms appear.

When should I get the flu shot?
Influenza is most common in the United States from December to April, so it's best to get the flu shot from October through mid-November. The vaccine begins to protect you after one to two weeks. Medicare currently covers the cost of flu shots.

Do I need a flu shot every year?
Yes. Although only a few different influenza viruses circulate at any given time, people continue to become ill with the flu throughout their lives. The reason for this continuing susceptibility is that influenza viruses are continually changing, usually as a result of mutations in the viral genes.

Each year the vaccine is updated to include the most current influenza virus strains. The fact that influenza viruses continually change is one of the reasons vaccine must be taken every year. Another reason is that antibody produced by the person in response to the vaccine declines over time, and antibody levels are often low one year after vaccination.

Have the flu, what do I do?
Once a person has the flu, treatment usually consists of resting in bed, drinking plenty of fluids, and taking medication such as aspirin or acetaminophen to relieve fever and discomfort. Children with the flu should not take aspirin because of the associated risk of a rare, but very serious illness called Reyes syndrome.

When should I see my health care provider?
If you have any signs of the flu and:

• You have breathing or heart problems, or other serious health problems.
• You are taking drugs that fight cancer (chemotherapy) or weaken your body's natural defenses against illness.
• You feel sick and don't seem to be getting better.
• You have a cough that begins to produce phlegm and turns wet.
• You are worried about your health and have other questions.

Treating flu with drugs
Antibiotics are not effective against flu viruses. However, there are two drugs—amantadine and rimantadine—that can be used to treat some types of influenza infection. When taken within 48 hours after the onset of illness, these drugs can reduce the duration of fever and other symptoms and allows flu sufferers to return to their daily routines more quickly. Both of these drugs are only available by prescription. Rimantadine is a derivative of the drug amantadine. Amantadine, however, is more likely to cause side effects such as lightheadedness and inability to sleep more often than does rimantadine. If you and your health care professions determine that these medications are right for you, be certain to watch carefully for the possible side-effects.

For more information on the flu:
Visit the following Web sites to learn more:

• Health Finder
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (includes information regarding who should get a flu shot)
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid ( includes information regarding Medicare Preventative Services for Influenza)