Flu Prevention, Symptoms and Treatment Information

For swine flu questions, call our Health Emergency Information Line at 1-888-959-9911 or see our page about swine flu.

Prevention

The most important thing you can do to protect yourself is to prevent the flu.

To protect yourself and your family from the flu:

Get a flu vaccine
Wash your hands often with soap and warm water
Use tissue when you cough, sneeze or spit and dispose of the tissue in a covered trash bin
Keep your hands away from your face
Clean shared space more often such as phone receivers, keyboards, steering wheels and office equipment
Do not share personal items such as, forks, spoons, toothbrushes and towels
Avoid crowds
Avoid people who are sick with respiratory illnesses

Download Prevention Tips Flyers

English (37k PDF, 1p.)
Español (37k PDF, 1p.)
Multi-lingual Stop Disease (PDF, 1p.)

Helpful Links

Symptoms

Symptoms of the flu include fever, headache, extreme tiredness, dry cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, and muscle aches.
Children may have additional symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. These symptoms are uncommon in adults.
If you or someone you know are experiencing these symptoms call your health care provider.

Is It a Cold or the Flu?

Treatment

The flu is caused by a virus so antibiotics like penicillin do not cure the flu. In some cases, your health care provider may choose to use certain drugs that kill viruses (antiviral) to treat the flu.

Specific treatment will be determined by your health care provider but some things you can do to treat symptoms of the flu are:

Get plenty of bed rest
Drink a lot of liquids
Avoid using alcohol and tobacco
Take over the counter fever reducers (Never give aspirin to children without first consulting your health care provider.)

Where to get flu vaccine in Contra Costa County