CHAMPAIGN — If you’re caring for someone at home with the flu, you’re not alone.
With the current flu season turning severe, home care-givers can take some simple steps to keep sick family members more comfortable and others protected from infection.
Flu symptoms can include fever, coughing, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body ache, headache, chills and fatigue. But the five symptoms accompanying the current influenza A strain health care providers are seeing the most of have been fever, headache, coughing, body ache and fatigue, according to Christie Clinic nurse practitioner Amber Oberheim.
The flu doesn’t always come with fever, but in this case, she says, “I don’t know if I’ve had anybody that is fever-free.”
Kids brought in with the flu also appear pale and have red-ringed eyes, Oberheim says, and “they just look worn out.”
Adults with flu have been extremely fatigued and achy, she says.
The cough with this flu is a dry, hacking cough, so a humidifier in the sick person’s room can help, Oberheim says. So will lowering the thermostat a couple of degrees at night, because the warm, dry air coming out of the furnace vents tends to make the coughing worse.
Rest and good home care will help many people recover from the flu, but anyone in doubt about how serious someone’s condition is should seek medical attention, Oberheim says.
“My take would be, if in doubt, bring them in,” she says. “Our clinic has the rapid flu test.”
Flu symptoms caught within the first 48 hours may also be treated with prescription antiviral medications, Oberheim says. Antivirals such as Tamiflu or Relenza are given to shorten the duration and severity of the flu.
Breathing difficulties and/or high fever may mean it’s time to take someone with the flu to an emergency room, especially if the sick person is an older adult or young child or has a chronic medical condition such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Oberheim says.
To keep flu from spreading, she advises keeping someone with flu home and isolated from other family members as much as possible — using a separate bedroom if there’s one available and even a separate bathroom if your home has more than one — plus frequent hand-washing with soap and water for everyone. Or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer if someone can’t get to a sink.
The importance of hand-washing is something people hear a lot, and Oberheim strongly advises taking it to heart.
“As simple as it is, it sometimes doesn’t get the importance that it needs,” she says.
To also help keep flu from spreading, ask the sick person to cough or sneeze into a tissue and then throw away the tissue immediately. This contains more of the germs than coughing or sneezing into a hand or elbow, Oberheim says.
Caregivers and others at home may also help ward off becoming sick by taking Vitamin C, zinc and echinacea supplements, she says.
Oberheim says she uses these supplements herself and tends to stay well, though she gives most of the credit to frequent hand-washing and refraining from touching her eyes, nose and mouth.
Try this at home
1. Home care for flu should include plenty of rest and clear fluids and over-the-counter medications for fever and coughing.
2. Prescription anti-viral medications can be administered (typically within two days of flu onset) for people at higher risk of complications due to age or medical condition, but most otherwise-healthy people don’t need antiviral drugs.
3. Don’t allow anyone else in the house to use the sick person’s towels, eating utensils or drinking glass.
4. In addition to tissues and a thermometer, stock the sick room with alcohol-based hand sanitizer, face masks for other family members at risk, a humidifier to ease dry coughing and cool beverages given with straws or through a squeeze bottle.
5. Be aware that flu may turn into a medical emergency in children and adults who have trouble breathing and when symptoms improve but return with fever and a cough worse than before.